WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Representative Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the Chairwoman of House Republican Leadership, today announced an investigation into Harvard University’s lack of compliance with civil rights laws it is required to comply with as a result of receiving federal funds. In a letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber, the lawmakers request documents and communications to aid the investigation and reserve the right to request transcribed interviews with Harvard employees.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is conducting oversight of Harvard University’s lack of compliance with civil rights laws despite receiving more than half a billion dollars in federal funds annually. Harvard’s potentially improper use of federal funds requires this oversight. The Committee requests documents and communications to inform its oversight of this matter, and to determine whether legislation is necessary to ensure that institutions of higher education receiving federal financial assistance are no longer able to violate the law while lucratively benefitting from the generosity of the American people,” wrote the lawmakers.
Longstanding civil rights law prohibits any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating “on the ground of race, color, or national origin.” In Fiscal Year 2024, Harvard University received at least $686 million in federal funding despite having a massive endowment. Even as the university has received enormous sums of federal funds, Harvard has a history of defending racial discrimination and antisemitic activities on campus. On April 11, 2025, officials from the General Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education proposed a settlement agreement to Harvard seeking to return it into compliance with civil rights laws. Harvard rejected the settlement. The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism subsequently announced a freeze on over $2 billion in multi-year federal grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard.
“Harvard is apparently so unable or unwilling to prevent unlawful discrimination that the institution, at your direction, is refusing to enter into a reasonable settlement agreement proposed by federal officials intended to put Harvard back in compliance with the law. No matter how entitled your behavior, no institution is entitled to violate the law,” continued the lawmakers. “[I]f Harvard, or any institution for that matter, does not wish to comply with this basic legal obligation, the proper avenue for achieving this is simple: do not take federal financial assistance.”
Read the letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber here.