US President Donald Trump's administration plans to terminate the federal government's remaining contracts with Harvard University, according to a letter set to be sent to federal agencies on Tuesday.
The letter, from the US General Services Administration, directs all federal agencies to review and potentially terminate or reallocate their contracts with Harvard, which an official valued at about $100 million.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move marked the latest instance of the Republican president's administration moving to undermine the financial stability and global standing of the nation's oldest and wealthiest university after it pushed back on government demands for vast changes to its policies.
The government has already terminated nearly $3 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League school and moved last week to revoke its ability to enroll international students. Those roughly 6,800 students make up about 27% of Harvard's total enrollment.
A federal judge in Boston on Friday temporarily blocked the US Department of Homeland Security from revoking foreign student enrollment ahead of a Thursday hearing. During a brief hearing on Tuesday, a lawyer with the US Department of Justice said the administration is complying with that order and was weighing its options.
Tuesday's letter from the GSA accused the school of engaging in discriminatory admissions practices even after the US Supreme Court in its 2023 decision ending affirmative action in higher education rejected Harvard's use of race as an admissions factor to boost campus diversity.
The letter from Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the GSA's federal acquisition service, also accused Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard of discriminatory hiring practices and of failing to protect Jewish students from harassment.
Two officials familiar with the matter said the letter will be sent to agencies on Tuesday. The letter directs agencies to submit a list of contract cancellations by June 6 and says contracts for critical services would be transitioned to other vendors.
Harvard, which is suing to challenge the administration's actions, has argued the administration in its rush to punish the school has run afoul of various procedures and is violating its free speech rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment by trying to assert control over its staff, curriculum and enrollment.
Harvard University President Alan Garber said in an interview with NPR released on Tuesday that while there are problems on its campus that it needs to address, the administration's decisions to cancel grant funding were "perplexing."
"As long as there has been a United States of America, Harvard has thought that its role is to serve the nation," he said.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ