Trump tells IRS to revoke tax-exempt status for Harvard

Donald Trump has declared war on Harvard for the school pushing back against the administration’s demands to keep federal funding.

Now, Trump wants the IRS to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status, so there is a lot to unpack here.

Freeze It

Donald Trump’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism had announced that it was making cuts to schools that refused to comply with the administration’s demands to end antisemitism and DEI policies on campuses.

Harvard stood to lose $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million on contracts.

Harvard refused to give in, even after generating nationwide headlines with protests and attacks on Jewish students. The school stated, "The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.

"Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government."

No Deal

Harvard President Alan M. Garber called the demands by the administration “unprecedented.”

He stated, "It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner. Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the 'intellectual conditions' at Harvard."

Harvard also sent a letter to the administration pushing back on the demands.

That letter stated, "The government's terms also circumvent Harvard's statutory rights by requiring unsupported and disruptive remedies for alleged harms that the government has not proven through mandatory processes established by Congress and required by law.”

Revoke Its Status

According to the DOJ, the refusal to address the antisemitism on campus is grounds for the school to lose its tax-exempt status, so now Trump wants the IRS to pull it. While he does not have the authority, nor is he supposed to give the IRS orders, the agency can investigate on its own and reach its conclusions.

On the matter, Trump stated, "Harvard has been hiring almost all woke, Radical Left, idiots and ‘birdbrains’ who are only capable of teaching FAILURE to students and so-called ‘future leaders.' Look just to the recent past at their plagiarizing President, who so greatly embarrassed Harvard before the United States Congress.

"Many others, like these Leftist dopes, are teaching at Harvard, and because of that, Harvard can no longer be considered even a decent place of learning, and should not be considered on any list of the World’s Great Universities or Colleges.”

If the IRS does decide to revoke status, Harvard would have the opportunity to appeal the decision and litigate the matter, so this is unlikely to be settled anytime soon. But I have another question… Harvard has the largest endowment in the country, exceeding $50 billion, so why is the school receiving billions in grants funded by taxpayer money?