Trump administration takes first steps to restore Harvard’s funding, but money isn’t flowing yet
Sep 11, 2025, 6:49 AM
FILE - People take photos near a John Harvard statue, left, on the Harvard University campus, Jan. 2, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Harvard University says it has started receiving notices that many federal grants halted by the Trump administration will be reinstated after a federal judge ruled that the cuts were illegal.
It’s an early signal that federal research funding could begin flowing to Harvard after months of deadlock with the White House, but it’s yet to be seen if money will arrive. The government has said it will appeal the judge’s decision.
Reinstatement notices have started arriving from several federal agencies, but so far no payments have been received, Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton said late Wednesday. “Harvard is monitoring funding receipts closely,” Newton said.
A federal judge in Boston last week ordered the government to reverse more than $2.6 billion in cuts, saying they were unconstitutional and “used antisemitism as a smokescreen” for an ideological attack.
The Trump administration started cutting federal research grants from Harvard in April after the Ivy League school rebuffed a list of wide-ranging demands from the government in a federal investigation into campus antisemitism. Harvard challenged the cuts in court, calling them illegal government retaliation.
Harvard has been President Donald Trump’s top target in his campaign to reshape higher education, which has resulted in settlements with Columbia and Brown universities to end federal investigations and restore federal money cut by the Trump administration.
Trump has said he wants Harvard to pay no less than $500 million as part any deal to restore funding. He reiterated the demand at an August Cabinet meeting. “They’ve been very bad,” Trump told Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “Don’t negotiate.”
Even as Harvard’s lawsuit played out, both sides had been negotiating the framework of an agreement that could end the prolonged conflict. So far, such a deal has been elusive.
The government has opened numerous investigations against Harvard and attempted an array of sanctions, including moves to block the school from enrolling international students. A federal judge blocked the move in June after Harvard sued.
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