Trump administration plans to cancel $100 million in federal Harvard contracts

The Trump administration plans to instruct federal agencies to cancel professional contracts with Harvard University, according to a report by The New York Times, citing a draft of a letter from the U.S. General Services Administration, or GSA. The letter, which bore Tuesday’s date, cited what the GSA characterized as Harvard’s use of admissions processes that were possibly discriminatory, as well as what the GSA said was its failure to protect Jewish students from severe harassment.

The letter goes on to instruct agencies to seek other vendors for services that would have previously been procured through Harvard. It also indicates that the government will terminate all professional ties previously held with the nation’s top university.

These contracts included research on the health effects of energy drinks, as well as a Homeland Security Department contract for executive training, according to a report from the Associated Press. Nine federal agencies could be affected by this order, which instructs them to respond by June 6 with the contacts they intend to terminate.

How did we get here? This comes amid ongoing conflict between President Donald Trump and Harvard. On Monday, Trump threatened via Truth Social to reallocate $3 billion worth of Harvard University funding to trade schools.

Harvard sued the Trump administration in April for rescinding $2.2 million worth of research funding. Harvard claims the administration threatened its right to free speech in its attempts to curb what the administration saw as discriminatory hiring practices affecting viewpoint diversity among Harvard’s faculty. The lawsuit is ongoing.

Last week, Harvard sued to regain the right to admit international students after the administration terminated its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification. A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily reinstated the certification and a judge is expected to decide on Thursday if that order should be extended.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube's report about Harvard renaming its DEI office amid ongoing conflict with the Trump administration.