The White House is putting heavy pressure on Harvard University by cutting off billions in funding after the school refused to follow new rules aimed at stopping antisemitism and reforming campus policies.

On Monday, the Trump administration announced it would freeze over $2 billion in federal funding to Harvard. This move follows what officials describe as the school’s refusal to make necessary changes to how it handles antisemitism, diversity programs, and academic governance.

The administration has been pushing for reforms across several Ivy League schools.

“It’s a question the president has obviously raised in his discussions, in negotiations with not just Harvard, but also Columbia and many other Ivy League institutions,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Leavitt said the administration is frustrated that taxpayer money is going to schools that fail to protect students and uphold the law.

.@MatthewFoldi: “Where does the administration see this going, with Harvard?”

Leavitt: “Jewish American students, or students of any faith, should not be illegally harassed and targeted on our nation’s college campuses.” pic.twitter.com/cAtLYCP8L6

— Team Cruz (@TeamTedCruz) April 15, 2025

“We have the antisemitism task force, which the president promised and delivered on,” Leavitt said. “The antisemitism task forces across the government, representatives from various federal agencies who meet on a weekly basis to discuss the question that you just raised. And I think a lot of Americans are wondering why their tax dollars are going to these universities when they are not only indoctrinating our nation’s students, but also allowing such egregious illegal behavior to occur.”

But Harvard President Alan M. Garber says the administration’s demands go too far. In a statement Monday, Garber claimed the government’s proposals would violate the Constitution and interfere with free expression on campus.

He said the administration’s demands go beyond addressing antisemitism and try to control what people at Harvard can think and say.

Specifically, Garber said the new requests “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” including auditing viewpoints of student, faculty and staff members on campus, and eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices and initiatives at Harvard.

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” Garber wrote. “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement.”

The Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, launched in February by the Trump administration’s Department of Justice, has been investigating incidents of antisemitism on college campuses since late 2023.

The task force is looking into what’s been happening at several universities, including Columbia, Harvard, NYU, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and others.

“Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws,” the task force said in a statement Monday. “The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable.

“It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the statement said.