Garber Says Some Harvard Research May Halt After Trump Orders Freeze on Federal Grants

Updated January 29, 2025, at 12:27 a.m.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 warned that federally funded research initiatives at Harvard could be forced to stop work to comply with President Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze in an email to affiliates Tuesday afternoon.

But just minutes after Garber’s email, United States District Judge Loren L. AliKhan ordered an administrative stay on Trump’s directive until Feb. 3, temporarily preventing the order from going into effect Tuesday afternoon.

The freeze — which was announced by Trump’s administration Monday night — orders a pause on the disbursement of federal funding to nonprofit organizations, states, and colleges and universities, including Harvard.

AliKhan is expected to issue a permanent decision on Monday.

In the email, Garber wrote that the order — should it go into effect — will force some Harvard researchers who receive federal funds to stop their work.

“The directive does require a pause on a subset of federally funded research activities implicated in an evolving set of executive orders or through stop work orders or other guidance issued by federal agencies,” Garber wrote.

He also reiterated the Department of Education’s Tuesday clarification that federal student loans and Pell grants would be unaffected by the funding.

“If you are a student, you should continue to register for and attend classes unimpeded,” Garber wrote in the email.

Harvard received $686 million in federal funding in 2024, much of which was allocated towards financial aid programs and medical research. A significant fraction of sponsored research funding supports salaries and other compensation.

Garber’s firm response is his first public comment on the string of executive orders that Trump has signed since assuming office last week. It is also his first direct response to Republican funding threats that have been looming over Harvard for more than a year.

Garber added that he will issue guidance later that afternoon to faculty members whose research engagements will have to be shuttered as a result of the freeze.

“In these challenging times, our efforts will be guided by our values and commitments,” Garber wrote.

A University spokesperson declined to comment on how the district judge’s administrative stay affects Harvard’s response.

Garber’s email to Harvard affiliates follows similar messages from other colleges and universities, all warning of significant disruptions.

Stanford President Jonathan D. Levin penned a longer and more direct rebuke of Trump’s order Tuesday morning, calling it “extraordinary and disruptive.”

“We know they will cause a great deal of concern, exacerbated by uncertainty about what the full scope and impact will be,” he wrote.

Unlike at Harvard, where Garber warned affiliates they might need to stop their research, Levin said that because of the memo’s “extensive uncertainty,” Stanford did not believe it was “necessary or appropriate” to pause such activity.

While Brown University President Christina H. Paxson issued a message similar to Garber’s, she also announced a new working group at Brown to “closely assess the orders coming out of Washington, D.C.”

No universities have announced plans to sue the Trump administration over the attempted funding pause — but 22 state attorneys general, including Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell, have announced plans to sue the White House, calling the freeze unconstitutional.

Harvard, however, has not hesitated to challenge Trump on executive orders during his first term.

In 2020, the University successfully sued the administration over a Covid-era executive order that stripped international students of their visas if they attended virtual classes.

The pause — which puts trillions of dollars in federal funding in limbo — is intended to give the new White House “time to review agency programs” and reallocate funding for programs aligned with Trump’s new policies.

Under the pause, federal agencies were charged with investigating their grants, loans, and programs to ensure compliance with Trump’s new policies, including his directive last week ordering universities to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, took direct aim at DEI initiatives in the memo Monday night, calling them a “waste of taxpayer dollars.”

House Republicans expressed broad support for Trump’s order, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who called the order “an application of common sense.”

“We want to make sure the orders of the new president are being fully complied,” Johnson said at an event Tuesday morning.

Johnson’s full-fledged endorsement of Trump’s order signals backing from the House amid confusion over whether the president actually has the power to withhold funds appropriated by Congress.

Trump’s directive also drew sharp criticism from some Democrats, who said the freeze would take away a critical lifeline from local governments, nonprofits, and hospitals.

“One man does not decide how taxpayers’ money is spent,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) at a Tuesday morning press conference.

Barbara R. Snyder, the president of the Association of American Universities, also slammed Trump’s proposal, saying it could inhibit scientific research at universities.

“Even a temporary stoppage of critical scientific research is a self-defeating, unforced error,” Snyder wrote.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.