Latest news with #fundingfreeze
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Harvard seeks end to US funding cuts, says national security, says research at risk
Harvard University asked a federal judge on Monday to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze $2.5 billion in funding blocked by President Donald Trump's administration, which Harvard said was illegal. Harvard's filing in the US District Court in Boston said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more since the country's oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands. Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the US-because in his view they have been captured by leftist 'woke' thought and become bastions of antisemitism. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for July 21 on Harvard's motion for summary judgment, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts. Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school's right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious. In Monday's court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including $88 million for research into pediatric HIV, $12 million for increasing Defense Department awareness of emerging biological threats and $8 million to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson's. The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza. Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school's ties to foreign governments and international students. The Trump administration revoked , which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case. Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence.
CNA
3 days ago
- Health
- CNA
Harvard seeks end to US funding cuts, says national security, public health research in peril
WILMINGTON, Delaware: Harvard University asked a federal judge on Monday (Jun 2) to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze US$2.5 billion in funding blocked by President Donald Trump's administration, which Harvard said was illegal. Harvard's filing in the US District Court in Boston said that it had received 957 orders since Apr 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more since the country's oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands. Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the US - because in his view, they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of antisemitism. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for Jul 21 on Harvard's motion for summary judgment, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts. Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school's right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious. In Monday's court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including US$88 million for research into pediatric HIV, US$12 million for increasing Defense Department awareness of emerging biological threats and US$8 million to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson's. The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza. Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school's ties to foreign governments and international students. The Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students last month, which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case. Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
Harvard seeks end to US funding cuts, says national security, public health research in peril
WILMINGTON, Delaware, June 2 (Reuters) - Harvard University asked a federal judge on Monday to issue a summary judgment ruling to unfreeze $2.5 billion in funding blocked by President Donald Trump's administration, which Harvard said was illegal. Harvard's filing in the U.S. District Court in Boston said that it had received 957 orders since April 14 to freeze funding for research pertaining to national security threats, cancer and infectious diseases and more since the country's oldest and wealthiest school rejected a White House list of demands. Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the U.S. - because in his view they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of antisemitism. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs has set arguments for July 21 on Harvard's motion for summary judgment, which is a request for a judge to decide a dispute without a trial to determine material facts. Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, alleging the funding freeze violated the school's right to free speech and was arbitrary and capricious. In Monday's court filing, Harvard detailed the terminated grants, including $88 million for research into pediatric HIV, $12 million for increasing Defense Department awareness of emerging biological threats and $8 million to better understand dark energy. The school said ending the funding would destroy ongoing research into cancer treatments, infectious disease and Parkinson's. The Trump administration has opened numerous investigations into Harvard. Some are looking at threats against Jewish students and faculty after pro-Palestinian protests broke out following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli military actions in Gaza. Other investigations are probing whether Harvard discriminates based on sex and gender, along with the school's ties to foreign governments and international students. The Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students last month, which a judge temporarily blocked after Harvard sued in a separate case. Harvard and other universities say Trump's attacks are threats to freedom of speech and freedom of academics, as well as threats to the schools' very existence.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump's vitriolic social media posts become key factor in legal cases
Donald Trump's social media posts have emerged as a factor in legal cases brought against his administration by institutions and law firms resisting his attempts to force them to submit to his presidential power. The president's vituperative rhetorical assaults on Harvard – whose professors he has denounced as 'bird brains' – on his Truth Social platform are being highlighted by the university's lawyers, who believe they show his attempts to slash its funding and cancel its right to enroll foreign students is fuelled by personal animus. Trump called Harvard, the world's richest university, 'an antisemitic, far left institution' in a social media diatribe after it sued to block a $2.2bn funding freeze his administration tried to impose. The same post accused the university of admitting students from 'all over the world who want to rip our country apart', an assertion that has acquired fresh resonance since the attempt to bar it from admitting students from abroad. Around 5,000 foreign students – 27% of the current student body – are currently studying there. He also called some Harvard students 'crazed lunatics' who 'spew fake anger and hate'. Last Sunday, after a judge blocked his administration's attempt to stop Harvard's right to enroll overseas students, he demanded 'names and countries' of every foreign student at the university. 'We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn't exactly forthcoming,' Trump posted. Lawyers representing Harvard referenced the posts in their presentation to a court in Boston on Thursday. The judge, Allison Burroughs extended a temporary restraining order issued last week blocking the ban. 'The Truth Social posts prove a deep hostility to Harvard, and Harvard believes they also suggest that hostility is based on Harvard's exercise of its first amendment activity,' David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University told the New York Times. 'So these quotes help Harvard prove its particular claims.' In one especially vitriolic post last month, Trump wrote: 'Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and 'birdbrains' who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called 'future leaders'.' Harvard, in common with many other universities, has been accused of failing to combat antisemitism following outbreaks of campus protests over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. The tug-of-war intensified after its president, Alan Garber, rejected administration demands for reforms that the university bosses say would mean surrendering vital academic freedoms. Trump has since threatened on Truth Social to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status, writing: 'We are going to be taking away Harvard's Tax Exempt Status. It's what they deserve!' The attempt to block foreign student enrollment – an important source of university revenue – was first announced last Friday by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who accused Harvard's leaders of failing to 'confront pervasive race discrimination and antisemitic harassment'. She also said the university's leadership had 'engaged in coordinated activity with the [Chinese communist party]'. Trump's social media posts have been cited in other recent cases challenging his administration's actions. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion In a ruling this month, Judge Beryl Howell cited numerous posts written by Trump about the law firm Perkins Coie in striking down an executive order he issued stripping it of security clearance and the right to access federal buildings. The executive order was unlike any other issued by previous US presidents, wrote Howell, adding that it 'came from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.'' She added: 'Perkins Coie's representation of President Trump's political opponent in the 2016 presidential campaign and representation of other clients in connection with election litigation has drawn President Trump's attention and ire, as reflected in his public statements.' The vehemence of Trump's Truth Social musings became an issue in last year's election campaign. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, analysed 13,000 of his messages and found multiple threats of revenge, retaliation and retribution against his political opponents, including Joe Biden, if he returned to power. One reading ''IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!' was invoked by prosecutors as evidence in court filings. Trump, in turn, claimed his posts were being used against him as he fought justice department investigations into his role in the January 6 insurrection and retention of classified documents. His recent prolific posting also reprises his actions during a trial last year over a defamation action brought by the writer, E Jean Carroll, after she had successfully sued for damages for sexual abuse. At one point, Trump posted more than 35 times – sharing articles from conservative social media about Carroll, who was suing him for defaming her while he was president – over an eight hour period before he was due to testify, while also attacking the trial judge. Earlier in the proceeedings, he posted more than 40 times in under an hour, challenging the veracity of her story. Carroll was subsequently awarded $83m in damages.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump admin takes significant financial action against Harvard
Trump has officially terminated $2.2 billion in taxpayer funds to Harvard University after ordering a review of the school's federal financing. A letter sent from a Trump National Institutes of Health (NIH) official to Harvard University President Alan Garber on Tuesday notified the administrator that the federal grants flowing to the college for research have been canceled. It comes days after the administration announced a crackdown on the university after allowing anti-Semitic protests and violence on campus. Harvard fired back with a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's funding freeze. The Daily Mail exclusively obtained the letter from NIH to Harvard stating that taxpayer funds must be 'carefully' used to 'benefit the American people and improve their quality of life.' 'Your project does not satisfy these criteria,' the letter to Garber continues. The face value of the total grants terminated comes to $2.2 billion, a White House official confirmed. 'President Trump means what he says,' the official told the Daily Mail. 'Harvard has a $53 billion endowment that they're free to use.' The letter from the Trump administration to the Massachusetts school confirms the billions in NIH funding for the university will be canceled. Though the university may appeal the decision, according to the letter. The letter specifically condemned the school for alleged race discrimination. It also accuses the Ivy League of allowing anti-Semitism to fester on campus unabated, despite faculty awareness of the 'widespread abuse of Jewish and Israeli students.' 'As relevant to NIH's policies, NIH understands that Harvard continues to engage in race discrimination including in its admissions process, and in other areas of student life, such as access to the Law Review at Harvard Law School,' the letter continued. 'Supporting research in such an environment is plainly inconsistent with NIH's priorities.' On Monday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote a letter to the university saying it should not apply for any more federal cash. 'This letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek grants from the federal government, since none will be provided,' she wrote. The university, along with other elite institutions, have been hotbeds for antisemitic and anti-Israel protests. Some pro-Palestinian Harvard student activists received assault and battery charges for confronting pro-Israel demonstrators, for example. In its lawsuit challenging the funding freeze, Harvard said the move was 'arbitrary and capricious' and violated its First Amendment rights. 'The Government has not — and cannot — identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen,' the lawsuit, filed in Boston federal court, stated. Attorneys representing Harvard noted the government has not acknowledged 'the significant consequences that the indefinite freeze of billions of dollars in federal research funding will have on Harvard's research programs, the beneficiaries of that research, and the national interest in furthering American innovation and progress.' In a letter to Harvard earlier this month, the Trump administration had called for broad government and leadership reforms at the university as well as changes to its admissions policies. The letter from the NIH to Garber (pictured) sent Tuesday claims that Harvard did not achieve these reforms. Harvard President Alan Garber initially said the university would not bend to the demands. 'The consequences of the government's overreach will be severe and long-lasting,' Garber said in a statement last month. 'Research that the government has put in jeopardy includes efforts to improve the prospects of children who survive cancer, to understand at the molecular level how cancer spreads throughout the body, to predict the spread of infectious disease outbreaks, and to ease the pain of soldiers wounded on the battlefield.' He noted that the victims aren't necessarily the researches and Harvard students - they will be 'future patients and their loved ones who will suffer the heartbreak of illnesses that might have been prevented or treated more effectively.' Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.
