Harvard Set to Face Another Colossal Blow After Standing Up to Trump
The Trump administration plans to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status soon.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
The Internal Revenue Service is reportedly making plans to rescind Harvard University’s tax-exempt status at the behest of the Trump administration.
CNN was the first to report on the IRS’ plans Wednesday, with two sources telling the outlet that a decision on the Ivy League school’s tax exemption will be released soon.
Department of Justice sources additionally confirmed to Fox News that the Trump administration asked the IRS to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
The Treasury Department (which the IRS is a bureau of) and Harvard did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Harvard has refused to bow down to a series of demands made by the Trump administration which it has described as an “attempt to control” its community.
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
On Monday, Harvard’s lawyers sent a letter to several federal officials announcing the university’s refusal to bow down to a number of demands penned by the Trump administration, which claimed that it was fighting antisemitism.
In a separate statement posted online, Harvard President Alan Garber said the demands are “an attempt to control the Harvard community” and vowed that “the University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
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On top of blocking more than $2 billion in funding in retaliation, President Donald Trump also floated the idea of rescinding the university’s tax-exempt status on Truth Social Tuesday.
The Trump administration has already blocked more than $2 billion in funding from the university for its opposition.
Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” Trump wrote.
Like many universities last year, Harvard became a hotspot for pro-Palestine student protests.
The Trump administration ordered the university to expel students involved in the protests, discontinue its diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and implement programs to bolster “viewpoint diversity,” among other demands.
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