WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that it is referring Harvard University for administrative suspension and debarment proceedings, a move that would exclude the school from entering into contracts with all government agencies or receiving any federal funding, including research grants and student aid.
If successful, the debarment attempt would cut off a key funding source for Harvard, a fresh financial blow after the Trump administration’s freeze of more than $2.6 billion in existing federal dollars. The university has 20 days to request a hearing in front of an administrative law judge at HHS to appeal the decision.
It’s the first time the Trump administration has threatened Harvard with a total suspension of federal funding, an escalation in its showdown with the school as negotiations for a settlement between the parties have reportedly stalled.
The referral for federal funding suspension comes three months after HHS informed university leaders of its findings that Harvard acted with “deliberate indifference” toward allegations of campus antisemitism, and two months after the agency referred the college to the Department of Justice for stricter enforcement. The agency said that HHS and DOJ had “engaged in extensive communications” with the school in what officials described as failed attempts to ensure “voluntary compliance” with federal investigations.
HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Paula Stannard wrote in a statement that the decision “reflects OCR’s commitment to safeguard both taxpayer investments and the broader public interest.”
The Trump administration has accused Harvard of insufficient cooperation in multiple federal civil rights probes. On Sept. 19, the Education Department said Harvard refused to provide documents and data in response to requests from investigators tasked with determining whether the university discriminated based on race in admissions.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move comes just over a week after $46 million in previously frozen federal grants had begun flowing back to the Ivy League university from HHS, after a district judge ruled earlier this month that the Trump administration’s suspension of funding was illegal. The administration said it would appeal that ruling.
It’s a new tactic in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against elite schools, and has potentially wide-reaching consequences.
If Harvard doesn’t win an appeal in the administrative hearing, it would be barred indefinitely from receiving any funding from across the federal government. It would also render students at Harvard ineligible for federal financial aid, student loans, and fellowships like the prestigious Fulbright program and Harry S. Truman scholarships.
A debarment would represent “total annihilation” of federal funding, said Robert Kelchen, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
He called the move the “second-biggest lever” for exerting pressure on the oldest and wealthiest US college. The only bigger threat, he said, would be revoking a school’s tax-exempt status.
“This is maximum pressure,” he said.
— Liam Knox / Bloomberg News