Democrats are asking for an investigation into whether the US president is putting pressure on the IRS to strip Harvard of its position.
President of the United States Donald Trump has updated his threat of stripping Harvard’s tax-free status.
“We’re going to take Harvard’s tax-free status, and that’s what they deserve!” Trump wrote Friday in a post about the truth about his social media platform.
The statement is the latest threat of an ongoing feud between the Republican president and Harvard University, the country’s oldest institution of higher education.
Since taking office in his second term on January 20th, Trump has sought to increase control over American universities and crack down on what he considers “illegal protests” on campus.
But Harvard was the focus of his public rage. In particular, school leaders rejected a list of requests sent by the Trump administration on April 11th.
In a five-page letter (PDF), Trump officials called on Harvard to reform the student disciplinary system, investigate protesters involved in Palestinian demonstrations, commission an external audit of programs considered anti-Semitic, and eliminate its diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) programs.
The letter also called for Harvard to commit to “diversity of perspective” in employment and admissions practices. Critics said the mission is equivalent to Trump trying to impose a political litmus test on schools.
By April 14th, Harvard University President Alangerber had rejected the letter. In a statement published on Harvard’s website, he explained that Trump’s demands are violated among Harvard’s academic freedom and other rights.
“Universities will not waive independence or waive constitutional rights,” Gerber writes. “A government in power should not direct what private universities can teach, who can be recognized and hired, or which areas of learning and research can be pursued.”
The Trump administration responded quickly by suspending nearly $2.2 billion in grants and contracts with schools.
Since then, the lawsuit (PDF) has challenged Trump’s attempts to withhold federal funds from schools, calling it “leverage to gain control over academic decisions at Harvard.”
Shortly after halting grants and contracts, Trump turned his attention to Harvard’s tax-free status and put pressure on schools.
Scientific research educational institutions, charities, nonprofits, and institutions are one of the entities eligible to apply for tax-exempt status under US law. That status provides relief from federal income and property tax payments for these organizations.
However, on April 15, Trump thought on social media that Harvard should lose its exemption to handle pro-Palestinian student protests.
“Perhaps inspired by political, ideological and terrorists, Harvard writes, “If you continue to support/support the disease, you should lose your tax-free status and be taxed as a political entity.” ”
US media coverage later showed that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was conducting internal deliberations on whether to revoke schools’ IRS status despite the relatively rare behavior.
However, under the US code, it is illegal for either the president, vice president or employee to indirectly petition the IRS for an audit of a taxpayer.
Democrats seized the fact to promote an investigation into the Trump administration’s actions against Harvard.
“The president is blatantly targeting Harvard’s nonprofit status for political purposes,” a democratic senator, including Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren, wrote in a joint letter Friday.
“The president’s call to lose his tax-free status plagues constitutional questions, such as whether the president is trying to curb Harvard’s free speech rights and whether revoking his tax-free status will deprive him of the due process.”