On Friday, President Donald Trump announced plans to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, intensifying his previous threats against the prestigious institution and possibly widening an existing legal confrontation.
“It’s what they deserve!” Trump declared in a brief post on Truth Social that outlined the decision.
This move represents a significant escalation in Trump’s ongoing campaign against Harvard and other elite universities, which he accuses of promoting antisemitism and discrimination on their campuses.
Trump has aimed to leverage concessions from these schools by threatening the withholding of federal research grants unless they affirmatively implement significant changes that would increase the administration’s oversight of their operations.
Additionally, the State Department and immigration officials have reportedly targeted thousands of international students by revoking their visas, with some facing detention in well-publicized instances.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration revealed plans to freeze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, which stands as the oldest and wealthiest university in the United States. In response, Harvard filed a lawsuit, deeming the action “unprecedented and improper.”
Around the same time, Trump publicly contemplated the idea of stripping Harvard of its tax-exempt status, which is typically granted to most public and private educational institutions.
“Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” he wrote on Truth Social on April 15.
The Treasury Department has reportedly instructed the Internal Revenue Service to evaluate the potential revocation of Harvard’s tax-exempt status, as noted in a recent report by The New York Times last month.
Furthermore, Trump’s former Homeland Security Secretary issued warnings regarding the potential removal of Harvard’s capability to obtain visas for international students enrolled there.
In light of Trump’s latest pronouncement, a Harvard spokesperson stated, “there is no legal basis to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status.”
“Such an unprecedented action would endanger our ability to carry out our educational mission,” the spokesperson added in a statement to NBC News. “The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.”
Simultaneously, a group of Senate Democrats sent a letter on Friday to the acting chief of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, urging an investigation into whether the White House has pressured the IRS to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status and whether any actions have been taken to scrutinize this designation.
Senators Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Ed Markey, and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) highlighted the legal and constitutional concerns regarding the IRS potentially taking directives from the President to target educational institutions, hospitals, or any other tax-exempt organizations in response to their exercise of free speech rights.
“While auditing Harvard for refusing to capitulate to the President’s demands is clearly troubling, we are even more concerned about the implications for organizations that are too small to resist pressure from the White House or do not have the resources for legal action,” they wrote.
“Church groups, hospitals, health clinics, or food banks could be next.”
