Harvard Loses $60 Million in CDC Grants Amid Federal Crackdown on Campus Antisemitism

By: Fern Sidman

In a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to hold elite universities accountable for tolerating antisemitism, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has canceled $60 million in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-related grants to Harvard University, citing the institution’s failure to provide a nondiscriminatory environment. The move is the latest in a wave of funding terminations directed at the Ivy League school, which federal officials now accuse of institutional complicity in antisemitic hostility.

As The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported on Tuesday, the grant cancellation is part of a broader federal effort to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not funneled into universities that, according to federal findings, have systematically failed to confront Jew-hatred on campus.

According to a letter dated May 19, obtained by the Daily Caller and referenced in reporting by JNS, Jamie Leiger, the CDC’s chief grants management official, formally notified Harvard that the grants were being withdrawn due to violations of federal nondiscrimination standards. Leiger emphasized that “grant dollars should only support institutions that comply with principles and laws of nondiscrimination,” clearly linking Harvard’s funding status to its recent failure to uphold those standards in the context of rising antisemitism.

Leiger’s letter cites findings from an April report by the Harvard Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, which concluded that the university had failed to “foster safe, equal, and healthy working and learning conditions conducive to high-quality research and free inquiry.” The task force, formed in response to mounting national criticism, documented a hostile climate for Jewish students and faculty—characterized by harassment, ideological exclusion, and systemic bias.

As the JNS report has highlighted, this is not the first time the federal government has cited that report in decisions to sever ties with the university.

The CDC grant termination follows on the heels of $450 million in canceled federal funding last Tuesday by the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, which operates under the Department of Education and the Department of Justice. That action, also directed at Harvard, came just weeks after a previous funding termination of $2.2 billion in federally administered research contracts and grants.

As JNS continues to report, these actions reflect the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive posture against what it views as a pattern of institutional tolerance for antisemitic harassment and anti-Israel bias in elite academia. Harvard has become a flashpoint in this national reckoning, particularly in the wake of last fall’s campus protests following the October 7 Hamas terror massacre in Israel.

Those demonstrations, which included open calls for intifada and support for designated terrorist organizations, drew widespread criticism from Jewish groups and elected officials. Multiple congressional hearings, including those covered by JNS, have grilled Harvard leadership over its perceived reluctance to condemn antisemitic rhetoric and protect Jewish students.

Further fueling the controversy is Harvard’s refusal to engage directly with federal inquiries. On Monday, Harvard President Alan Garber declined to appear at an upcoming Senate hearing focused on the state of higher education, a move seen by many critics as an abdication of responsibility.

Garber’s absence marks the second time in recent months that Harvard’s top leadership has evaded congressional testimony on the issue, as JNS reported. His predecessor, Claudine Gay, was forced to resign earlier this year after her widely criticized testimony on antisemitism before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, followed by a plagiarism scandal.

Garber, who pledged to “restore trust” and address “all forms of hatred,” has thus far failed to take concrete actions that satisfy critics. Jewish advocacy organizations, including those regularly cited by JNS, have argued that Harvard’s efforts remain performative and insufficient.

The Trump administration’s recent actions signal a shift in how the federal government may enforce civil rights protections tied to federal funding, especially in cases involving religious discrimination. By revoking CDC grants — which are typically used for public health research, training, and data infrastructure — the Department of Health and Human Services is sending a stark message that institutions will be held accountable not only in principle but in practice.

As the JNS report indicated, these decisions also come amid a broader reexamination of how Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to Jewish students and campus antisemitism. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance — and Jewish students, under updated federal guidance, are now recognized as protected under this statute when targeted for ethnic or ancestral reasons.

In that legal context, Harvard’s perceived failure to act decisively has exposed it to heightened scrutiny — and, increasingly, financial consequences.

With hundreds of millions — potentially billions — of dollars in federal grants now lost or at risk, Harvard finds itself at a pivotal moment. What began as student protests has metastasized into a full-blown national crisis of confidence in one of America’s most prestigious academic institutions. Jewish students, faculty, and donors are demanding more than apologies and task forces — they want lasting institutional change.

The pressure is not just coming from Jewish organizations or congressional Republicans. The very structure of Harvard’s federal funding is being threatened, and unless concrete reforms are enacted swiftly, the era of automatic deference to Ivy League autonomy may be drawing to a close.

As one official close to the matter told JNS, “It’s not about punishing Harvard. It’s about protecting students and ensuring federal funds aren’t underwriting hate.”

Whether Harvard listens remains to be seen. But the message from Washington is unmistakably clear: universities will either confront campus antisemitism head-on or face the financial and reputational fallout of continued denial.