Harvard University professors sue Trump administration to block review of nearly $9 billion in federal funds

The Harvard faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors, along with the national organization, filed a lawsuit on Friday against the Trump administration over its demanded policy changes while reviewing nearly $9 billion in federal funding.

The Harvard faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors, along with the national organization, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its demanded policy changes while reviewing nearly $9 billion in federal funding. The lawsuit was filed Friday in conjunction with a request from the professors for an immediate temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration from cutting off Harvard University’s federal funding, according to the filings. The university received a letter from a federal task force earlier this month outlining policy demands tied to nearly $9 billion in federal funding, a university spokesperson confirmed to CNN. Among the demands outlined in the letter are the elimination of Harvard’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs and a ban on masks at campus protests, The Harvard Crimson, a student-run newspaper, and other outlets reported. The review is the latest effort of a federal task force to combat antisemitism on college campuses after a spate of high-profile incidents around the country in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. “This case involves an unprecedented threat from the Trump administration to withhold nearly nine billion dollars in federal funding to one of our nation’s leading universities unless it accedes to changes that fundamentally compromise the university’s independence and the free speech rights of its faculty and students,” the lawsuit states. It also alleges the Trump administration’s actions violate the First Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination under federally assisted programs on grounds of race, color or national origin, according to the federal law.