Attorney Alan Dershowitz, in a recent appearance on Newsmax’s “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” asserted that Harvard University’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over frozen federal funding is a politically motivated maneuver with little legal merit. He predicted a near-certain loss for the prestigious institution.
Harvard University filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of using the threat of funding cuts to coerce the university into relinquishing control over its academic decisions.
Dershowitz, however, dismissed these claims, stating, “Harvard’s gonna lose. It has no obligation, legally, the government, to fund a $53 billion university. I don’t understand the basis of the lawsuit. They’re claiming First Amendment, but Harvard has the First Amendment right to speak and to teach and academic freedom, but it doesn’t have the right to get funding.”
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Dershowitz suggested that the lawsuit is less about constitutional rights and more about strategic pressure.
“I think the lawsuit is designed to send a message to the administration. Come sit down and negotiate,” he explained. “There are two lawyers who they hired initially are negotiators. They’re close to the Trump family and Trump business, and I think this is simply a ploy to try to get a resolution.”
He further broke down the government’s demands, estimating that roughly a third are reasonable, a third are flawed, and the remaining third are negotiable.
“About a third of the things that the government asked for from Harvard are right. They should do it. A third of them may be wrong, and about a third of them are subject to negotiation. So this case will settle. But if it goes to the Supreme Court, it’s gonna lose. It may win in the district court because it’s Massachusetts, but it will lose in the Supreme Court,” Dershowitz predicted.
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Background: Funding Freeze and Antisemitism Concerns
The Trump administration’s threats to cut Harvard’s funding began in April, following demands for the university to address antisemitism on campus. The Department of Education called for reforms in disciplinary policies, stricter screening of international students, and reviews of programs with a history of antisemitism.
Harvard’s rejection of these terms, which they deemed a federal “takeover,” led the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism to move to revoke $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts. Senior officials at the Department of Health and Human Services also indicated the halting of over 500 National Institutes of Health grants to Harvard, totaling more than $1 billion.
Dershowitz’s Analysis: Negotiation Over Defiance
In an earlier opinion piece, Dershowitz suggested that Harvard, despite its public defiance, is signaling a willingness to negotiate. He pointed to the university’s retention of Ballard Partners, a law firm with close ties to the Trump administration, as evidence of this strategy.
President Trump’s public attacks on Harvard, accusing the institution of “Hate and Stupidity” and threatening to withdraw its tax-exempt status and federal funding, have further escalated the situation. Dershowitz argued that Harvard President Alan Garber’s public defense of academic independence serves to appease the university’s liberal faculty, while behind the scenes, a negotiated settlement is being pursued.
Dershowitz believes that many of the government’s demands are “quite reasonable and necessary,” particularly regarding the need for greater intellectual diversity and the addressing of antisemitism. He cited personal experiences and student testimonies of feeling silenced on campus.
He also criticized perceived ideological biases within certain academic departments and administrative offices, contributing to what he called an “oppressive campus culture.”
Dershowitz concluded that a negotiated settlement could lead to positive reforms at Harvard, emphasizing his stance as one based on “principles, consistency and neutrality.”
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