Trump Live Updates: Tariff news, expulsion flights and federal workers

The announcement of the investigation suggested that Harvard had not done enough to slow down anti -Semitism on the campus, but was vague on what the university could do to satisfy the Trump administration.

“While Harvard’s recent actions to limit institutionalized anti -Semitism – although long awaited – are welcome, there is much more than the university must do the privilege of receiving hard -earned dollars from federal taxpayers,” said Josh Gruenbaum, a senior official of the General Services Administration, in a press release.

“This administration has proven that we will take rapid measures to hold responsible institutions if they allow anti-Semitism to be transmitted,” he added. “We will not hesitate to act if Harvard does not do so.”

Harvard’s announcement followed the same model as a similar decision against Columbia University last month. In its announcement on Monday, the government did not fail to note the disproportionate role that Harvard plays in the imagination of the public, which makes him a target more attractive.

“Harvard has been a symbol of the American dream for generations – the aspiration of summum for students around the world to work hard and to be admitted to the legendary institution,” said Linda McMahon, secretary of education, in the announcement.

“Harvard’s failure to protect students on the campus against anti -Semitic discrimination – while promoting division ideologies compared to a free survey – has put its reputation in serious danger.”

The press release indicates that the government would collaborate with the contracting agencies to assess the opportunity to issue arrest work orders for one of the study contracts.

It was not clear how the government had come to the figure of almost $ 9 billion in subsidies for Harvard and its subsidiaries. But that could include money for hospitals affiliated with Harvard medicine schools, such as Masse General Brigham, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Harvard and other universities have taken a number of measures in the wake of campus demonstrations against the war in Gaza that some have declared having fired in anti-Semitism, including songs very contested by certain pro-Palestinian demonstrators such as “from the river to the sea”. For example, Harvard has adopted a definition of anti -Semitism which develops certain criticisms of Israel as anti -Semitic, a decision rented by some Jewish students and teachers but condemned by defenders of freedom of expression. He said that Jewish and Israeli identities are covered by his anti-discrimination and anti-intimidation policies. And it has intensified disciplinary and developed programs on a constructive dialogue.

In the case of Columbia, the same three agencies – The Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Department of Education and General Services Administration – announced an investigation on March 3 on federal subsidies and contracts of the school. They declared that the examination was carried out jointly with “undergoing investigations for potential violations of title VI of the civil rights law”. (Title VI prohibits discrimination based on breed, color and national origin in programs receiving federal subsidies.)

A few days later, the government stripped $ 400 million in Federal Columbia funding.

In an effort to recover this money, Columbia has acceded to an initial set of requests from the Trump administration, including strengthening its security force on the campus and imposing the greater monitoring of its department for studies in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, among other concessions.

Many members of the faculty fiercely opposed the concessions and Friday, the university replaced the acting president who had supervised the negotiations, Katrina Armstrong, with Claire Shipman, a journalist who had been co -chair of the university’s board of directors.

The government has not declared that the financing of the university would be restored.

Alan Mr. Garber, president of Harvard, was not immediately available to comment. But he previously highlighted the importance of federal money for the university operation.

“We could not carry out our mission as we do now without substantial federal support for research, and we could not provide the advantages of the nation that we are now doing without this support,” said Dr. Garber in a December interview with the Harvard Crimson, the Campus Journal.

Harvard press office officials did not return any comments.

Harvard and Columbia were among the 10 universities that a federal working group declared in February that it examined due to a possible anti -Semitic activity on campuses. Shortly after, Harvard said he was geling the staff and the faculty hiring, given the uncertain environment.

In a way, the Trump administration campaign against anti -Semitism was inspired by events in Harvard.

Immediately after Hamas’ October 7 attacks against Israel, a coalition of Harvard students from Harvard students, under the banner of Harvard Palestine’s solidarity groups, wrote a letter declaring “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for any violence in progress”.

Lawrence H. Summers, the former secretary of the Treasury and former president of Harvard, sentenced the management of the university for not having denounced the student letter.

The president of Harvard at the time, Claudine Gay, tried to make amends, but was finally forced to resign after the testimony before a Congress Committee. In interrogation, she said that if the students would be punished for anti -Semitic remarks, such as the defense of the genocide, depended on the context.

During the following weeks, Harvard adopted a posture of institutional neutrality, saying that it would no longer take a position on questions outside the university.

Throughout the last school year, the Harvard campus was shaken by demonstrations and confrontations between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students. At one point, the university has locked its doors to restrict that could enter the Harvard courtyard.

The students installed tents in a camp last spring, and the statue of John Harvard was vandalized with red paint. In October, pro-Palestinian demonstrators organized a silent demonstration at the Widener library, the main library, where they stuck panels like “free Palestine” and “Harvard disinvesting from death” to their laptops.

Harvard, like other universities, has started to repress with new rules on protests and speech. In recent months, the protest movement has been quieter.

Shabbos Kestenbaum, a recent graduate who continues Harvard for not having taken anti -Semitism seriously, said that he was “delighted” on Monday.

“This is precisely why I campaigned and voted for President Trump,” said Kestenbaum, who previously supported Bernie Sanders. “I wanted my party to take anti -Semitism seriously, and they refused to do it.”

Kestenbaum, who spoke during the Republican National Convention, said he had been in communication with members of the Trump administration. “If Harvard is not afraid,” he said, “it just means that they are not careful, because more responsibility is on the way.”

Harvard is one of the richest institutions in the world, with an endowment fund of more than $ 50 billion. Most recently, he announced that he increased his financial assistance for students, making free tuition fees for families with revenues of $ 200,000 and less.

The attack on the administration against universities has profound implications for the first amendment and the government’s power for police demonstrations, even when they occur on private campuses. There will also probably be huge economic and academic repercussions if, for example, the government reduces substantial money to Harvard.

Although private philanthropy is important, federal funding has long been the cornerstone of American university research, and university leaders have warned that few institutions can continue to bring together financial fire power for projects if Washington ceases to help in bills. The even temporary closures, research programs could lead to new layoffs and the hiring of gels that could flow in local savings.

But the administration came to power in January to host from rage to the most elite areas of American higher education. As candidates, Donald J. Trump described the best universities as invaded by “the Marxists, the Maniacs and the Fous”, and JD Vance hidden them as “crazy”. (Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance both hold diplomas from Ivy League universities.)

And Mr. Trump himself then promised on social networks that “all federal funding will stop for any college, school or university which authorizes illegal demonstrations”.

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, warned on Monday that the government adopted a model of persecution.

“The administration has clearly found a gaming manual, and we see it again,” said Dr. Mitchell, who denounced what he called the use of “underestimated amorphous claims for anti -Semitism against an institution and preventive hostage taking” linked to funding.

The government, said Dr. Mitchell, has long used a measured and downstream process with colleges to combat potential civil rights violations. He said he feared that the Trump administration strategy will undergo regular procedure while threatening research and doing little to protect the Jews on campuses.

The other institutions targeted by the anti -Semitism working group were George Washington University; Johns Hopkins University; New York University; Northwestern University; The University of California in Los Angeles; The University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; and the University of South California.

Although a large part of the administration focuses on what it considers an endemic anti -Semitism on American campuses, it also interrupted around $ 175 million in funding from the University of Pennsylvania because it had allowed a transgender woman from his female swimming team in 2022.