WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Harvard University on March 20, 2026, alleging its leadership failed to address antisemitism on campus and seeking authority to freeze existing federal grants and recover funds already paid. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Massachusetts and represents the second such action the Justice Department has taken against Harvard in just over a month.

"The United States cannot and will not tolerate these failures and brings this action to compel Harvard to comply with federal civil rights law and to recover billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies awarded to a discriminatory institution," according to court filings.

Harvard responded by vowing to "defend the University against this lawsuit, which represents yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government." The university stated that "Harvard cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on our campus."

The university further defended its record, saying "Our actions illustrate this. Harvard has taken substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of antisemitism and actively enforces anti-harassment and anti-discrimination rules and policies on campus." Harvard has filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration, alleging it was unfairly penalized for refusing to adopt the administration's views.

The Trump administration removed more than $2.6 billion in federal research funding for Harvard University, terminated federal contracts, and sought to block the university from hosting international students. Since taking office in January 2025, the Trump administration has frozen billions of dollars in federal research grants to elite universities.

A federal judge reversed the Trump administration's funding cuts to Harvard University. In 2025, the Trump administration and Harvard University were reportedly nearing an agreement that would have required Harvard to pay $500 million to regain access to federal funding and to end investigations into campus antisemitism. President Donald Trump raised the settlement demand to $1 billion.