Topline
The Trump administration has ordered multiple federal agencies to cancel all remaining government contracts worth around $100 million with Harvard University, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, in a further escalation of his feud with the Ivy League school after it refused to comply with demands from his administration.
The Trump administration is reportedly moving to scrap $100 million worth of federal contracts with … More
Key Facts
The Trump administration has sent letters to several government agencies, ordering them to “find alternative vendors” for services in place of Harvard, the New York Times reported.
The letter, dated for Tuesday, was sent by the U.S. General Services Administration and it is expected to be delivered to federal agencies later in the day.
The Times report says the agencies have until June 6 to reply with a list of cancelled contracts, and anything deemed a critical contract will be transferred to an alternate vendor, although it’s unclear if the deadline applies to that as well.
Contracts from at least nine federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Homeland Security, will reportedly be impacted.
What Do We Know About Trump’s Bid To Cut Federal Funding For Harvard?
Trump has not officially announced the latest move, but it comes a day after he threatened to take away $3 billion of grant money from Harvard and allocate them to trade schools. In April, the administration moved to freeze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the university after the school rejected a series of demands from the White House, which accused Harvard of enabling antisemitism with its handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Earlier this month, the administration announced it would cancel an additional $450 million worth of grants to Harvard. The university has legally challenged Trump’s bid to halt funding.
Tangent
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the agency was revoking Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, preventing it from enrolling international students. The revocation of the certification is effective immediately, meaning “Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the DHS said at the time. In a letter to the university, Noem said it had a 72 hour deadline to comply with a list of demands that includes sharing all records, audio or video footage of any illegal, dangerous or violent activity, “threats to other students or university personnel,” both on or off campus, by international students enrolled at the university in the last five years. The agency also demanded the disciplinary records of all international students enrolled in the last five years and all footage of any protest activity by international students on Harvard’s campus during the same period. A federal judge, however, blocked the order preventing Harvard’s international enrollment after the university filed a suit accusing the Trump administration of violating its First Amendment rights.
Crucial Quote
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, Trump said: “We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country.” The president then claimed Harvard had “shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!),” to get the ruling in their favor.
Further Reading
Trump Intends to Cancel All Federal Funds Directed at Harvard (New York Times)
Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Banning International Students At Harvard (Forbes)
Trump Administration Freezes $2.2 Billion In Harvard Federal Funding After University Refuses To Comply With Demands (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/05/27/trump-reportedly-moves-to-cancel-remaining-federal-contracts-with-harvard-worth-100-million/