Trump Administration Seeks to Pull Estimated $100m in Harvard Funding

The Trump administration is taking steps to review and potentially withdraw up to $100 million in federal contracts awarded to Harvard University, intensifying a months-long standoff between the White House and the prestigious institution.

According to a senior White House official, the General Services Administration (GSA) will soon distribute a directive to federal agencies, urging them to identify existing Harvard contracts that could be cancelled or redirected. An estimated 30 agreements – collectively worth around $100 million—are under scrutiny.

The move is the latest in a string of actions against Harvard. In recent months, the administration has frozen more than $2.6 billion in federal grants and attempted to revoke the university’s ability to enrol international students and host foreign researchers. A federal judge has since issued a temporary restraining order halting that measure.

While the administration says the funding review won’t result in immediate revocations, it has asked agencies to evaluate whether the contracts align with their operational priorities. Agencies will have the option to terminate contracts “for convenience” if they are found to fall short of government standards. A draft of the GSA letter reportedly accuses Harvard of fostering discrimination and antisemitism – claims the university has not publicly addressed.

In a recent interview, Harvard President Alan Garber defended the university’s federally funded research, describing the cuts as harmful not only to Harvard but to the nation’s scientific progress.

“Why cut off research funding?” Garber asked during an NPR interview. “It hurts the country because the funding is meant to support high-priority federal research – not as a gift to Harvard, but to achieve national objectives.”

One such effort affected by the funding clampdown is the Sinclair Lab at Harvard Medical School. The lab, led by renowned geneticist David Sinclair, focuses on age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, and infertility. Sinclair told the BBC that losing a grant from the National Institutes of Health has disrupted critical work, and restrictions on international scholars have left half of his team unable to continue.

“The loss of funding not only halts ongoing experiments that cannot simply be restarted, but also jeopardizes the contributions of international scholars who are integral to the lab’s operations,” Sinclair said.

Graduate and PhD students are expected to bear the brunt of the cuts. Adam Nguyen, a Harvard alumnus and founder of Ivy Link, a college admissions consulting firm, warned that many researchers may lose their positions altogether.

“If you have the cuts, they’re out of a job,” Nguyen said. “There’s no money to fund their research. You’re talking about cuts, lay-offs, and immediate stop-work orders.”

The federal government has historically been a major supporter of Harvard’s research in areas ranging from infectious diseases to technological innovation. The university’s website warns that the abrupt loss of federal support could halt numerous studies midstream.

Protests have already begun on campus. Dozens of students and faculty gathered Tuesday evening to oppose the administration’s actions, accusing the government of using political motives to undermine academic freedom.

“The excuse that these policies somehow address antisemitism is absurd,” said Jacob Miller, a student and former president of Harvard Hillel, a Jewish cultural organization.

Despite the backlash, the Trump administration appears determined to continue its review, which signals one of the most aggressive federal clampdowns on an academic institution in recent U.S. history.