Trump DOJ Sues Harvard for Withholding Admissions Records in Post-Affirmative Action Probe
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has filed a new lawsuit against Harvard University, accusing the Ivy League school of illegally withholding admissions materials needed to determine whether it continues to discriminate in its admissions process after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-based affirmative action. The complaint alleges that Harvard has refused to turn over key applicant data and internal records that federal investigators say are necessary to evaluate whether the university has truly ended race-conscious decision-making or simply rebranded it through other criteria such as essays and subjective evaluations.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the case on Thursday, framing it as part of President Donald Trump’s broader push to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at federally funded institutions. “Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice is demanding better from our nation’s educational institutions,” Bondi said in a statement. “Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination — we will continue fighting to put merit over DEI across America.”
The lawsuit is the latest flashpoint in the ongoing fallout from the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down the university’s previous affirmative action framework and forced colleges nationwide to rethink how they consider race in admissions. Since then, Harvard has publicly pledged compliance and announced revisions to its process, but critics on the right have accused the school of skirting the ruling by using personal statements and other “race-adjacent” factors to preserve a similar outcome.
Justice Department lawyers argue that without full access to Harvard’s post-2023 admissions records, including detailed applicant files and statistical breakdowns, the government cannot verify whether the university is obeying federal civil-rights laws. The suit asks a federal court to compel Harvard to produce the requested materials and to block the school from further withholding documents deemed relevant to the investigation.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the case is expected to intensify the political and legal battle over how far universities can go in pursuing diversity goals in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling. The action against Harvard also signals that other elite institutions could face similar scrutiny as the Trump administration presses its campaign to roll back DEI-driven policies across higher education.