Harvard University appeared in federal court Monday in a pivotal case in its battle with the Trump administration, as the storied institution argued the government illegally cut $2.6 billion in federal funding.
If U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs decides in the university’s favor, the ruling would reverse a series of funding freezes that later became outright cuts as the administration escalated its fight with the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university. Such a ruling, if it stands, would revive Harvard’s sprawling scientific and medical research operation and hundreds of projects.
Harvard’s lawsuit accuses the administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a series of demands in an April 11 letter from a federal antisemitism task force.
Other news we’re following today:
- Texas GOP will try to redraw districts: The state’s special session will focus on ensuring Republicans retain control of the U.S. House in next year’s midterm elections, as urged by President Trump. The goal of devising five new winnable seats for the GOP is possible because the party that controls the state legislature gets to direct the redistricting process.
- EPA eliminates research and development office: The Environmental Protection Agency said it would also lay off thousands of employees. The agency’s Office of Research and Development has long provided the scientific underpinnings for EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. The agency will create a new Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions to focus on research and science “more than ever before.”
- Trump sues over Epstein reporting: Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, a day after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department asked a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein’s sex trafficking case, though former prosecutors consider the move a distraction that won’t provide much new information.
