Funding, Retaliation & Illegal Impoundment
1967
1967-01-01 Interesting FYI: Project Rebound was founded, offering hope and higher education opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals. Project Rebound Metrics from 2016 to 2016 had an astounding recidivism rate of 0%, meaning all students enrolled in their program did not re-offend, which also by that metric means the project has a 100% success rate. It assisted with books, school supplies, and help with childcare during school.
https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/project-rebound
2021
2021-10-03 JD Vance suggested using funds as leverage to strongarm universities, “…hundreds of billions of dollars that we send to them (meaning universities) as leverage, and say ‘unless you stop indoctrinating our children, unless you stop indoctrinating our entire society, you don’t get another dime of our money”.
2024
2024-04-05 Governor Greg Abbott threatened Texas college students with expulsion for protesting the genocide in Gaza.
2024-04-24 Mike Johnson called pro-Palestinian protestors “antisemitic”, threatened retaliatory measures to cut funding, and demanded the Columbia University president resign.
2025 February
2025-02-13 After a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, The Committee on Education and Workforce targeted Columbia University, demanding case files and proposed and enacted sanctions in response to a list of alleged antisemitic incidents from April 2024 through January 2025.
https://edworkforce.house.gov/uploadedfiles/2.13.25_columbia_letter.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHlQwOHuesY
2025 March
2025-03-07 The Trump administration cancelled $400M in grants to Columbia University.
2025-03-20 Trump suspended $175M in funding to the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a transgender athlete on the women’s swim team. In July, Trump released $175M in funding back to University of Pennsylvania only after they agreed to remove transgender Lia Thomas’ records and issue an apology.
2025-03-20 The Trump administration issued Executive Orders to dissolve the Department of Education at the Federal level and hand it over to the States.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/18/politics/education-department-trump-administration-changes
2025-03-21 Columbia University agreed to administration demands in exchange for restoring funding, but funding was later frozen again. Three months later Andrew Nixon stated, “There is no federal funding for unvetted woke research at Columbia. Any minimal disbursements that presently exist are for specific measures, including to wind down the grant entirely”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/columbia-university-funding-trump-demands
2025 April
2025-04-08 The Trump administration froze $1B in funding to Cornell University and $790M to Northwestern, accusing both schools of antisemitism and discrimination. According to online sources, the funding freeze impacted contracts for the Department of Agriculture, defense, education, Health & Human Services, and cybersecurity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/politics/cornell-northwestern-university-funds-trump.html
2025-04-09 Princeton lost federal funding for climate research because the Trump administration accused them of promoting “exaggerated and implausible climate threats.”
2025-04-14 Trump created a “Task Force to Combat Antisemitism” as part of his pressure campaign on universities and protests. The task force is backed by Stephen Miller and Leo Terrell.
https://www.deccanherald.com/world/inside-trumps-pressure-campaign-on-universities-3493732
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/politics/trump-pressure-universities.html
2025-04-29 Religious charter schools in Oklahoma requested taxpayer money grants to fund their schools, draining funds that should go to public education.
2025 May
2025-05-02 The Trump administration cut funding to after-school care programs, leaving increased strain on working families, gaps in learning and support since it also affects summer school programs, and disrupted partnerships between cities and nonprofits.
2025-05-23 During a Bloomberg radio interview, Yale School of Management Executive Fellow Gautam Mukunda stated, “If they can break Harvard, then they are sending a sign that they can do it to anybody”.
2025-05-27 Trump froze $3.2B in grants and contracts to Harvard.
2025-05-28 In a White House press conference Trump stated that Harvard “has to behave themselves” and demanded a list of foreign students from the school, stating Harvard should cap foreign attendees to 15%.
https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW765528052025RP1/
2025 June
2025-06-01 During an interview with Face the Nation, Wesleyan president Michael Roth said, “…this is really an act of intimidation to scare schools into towing the line of the current administration. It really has nothing to do with national security or with antisemitism. This heightened scrutiny is meant to instill fear on college campuses, and I am afraid it is working”.
2025-06-18 The Trump administration froze Columbia University funds again.
2025 July
2025-07-01 Trump released $175M in funding back to University of Pennsylvania only after they agreed to remove transgender Lia Thomas’ records and issue an apology
2025-07-13 Columbia University agreed to government oversight of their Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies at the demands of the Trump administration.
2025-07-23 Columbia University agreed to pay Trump $200M in fines to settle a fight and restore research funding. Trump later posted on Truth Social “Columbia has also committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus”.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114905836425012707
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq8zljpvyk0o
2025-07-31 The Trump administration cut funding to Brown University and forced them to pay a $50M settlement to the Rhode Island workforce development in a deal with Trump. They were also forced to adopt the government definition of male and female and remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/31/nx-s1-5486581/brown-university-agreement-restore-federal-funding
2025 September
2025-09-03 A judge ruled that the Trump administration illegally cancelled Harvard funding.
2025-09-04 Amid funding freezes and firings, Northwestern University president Michael Schill announced his resignation.
2026 February
2026-02-02 Trump threatened to sue Harvard University for $1 billion.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/03/trump-escalates-harvard-feud-with-1-billion-demand-00761683
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkryely657o
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116004776659519984
2026-02-27 Pete Hegseth said the US Armed Forces will only support Scouting America if it complies with EO 14173 to end DEI and ban trans kids. He wrote, “Boy scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/27/scouting-america-transgender-ban-pentagon
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/27/hegseth-scouting-america/