The Trump administration freezes billions in funding to Harvard University after rejecting demands.

After Harvard University said it is refusing to comply with a series of demands from President Donald Trump's administration, the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced a multi-billion-dollar freeze on funding to the university.

On Monday evening, the administration's task force announced that it would deprive the institution of $60 million in multi-year contract value and $2.2 billion in multi-year grants.

It is intolerable for Jewish students to be harassed. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support," the task force said in a statement.

Harvard University President Alan Garber said in a letter on Monday that the school "will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights" by agreeing to a number of terms proposed by the Trump administration. This led to the decision to take the action.

The Trump administration had demanded that Harvard end its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; adopt merit-based admissions; and cooperate with immigration authorities—or risk losing $9 billion in federal funding. Garber at the time said the loss of funding would "halt life-saving research."

Garber said the loss of funding based on policy choices violates the First Amendment and would "halt life-saving research."

The first major university to respond to the Trump administration's funding threats is Harvard, which rejected Trump's demands.

The Trump administration proposed terms in an April 11 letter, arguing that the school "failed to live up to both the intellectual and civil rights conditions that justify federal investment." These terms included changing the governance of the school, implementing merit-based hiring, eliminating any DEI programs, and allowing "audits" to ensure "viewpoint diversity." In response, Harvard's president said the school is committed to making changes to create a "welcoming and supportive learning environment" and reaffirmed the school's vow to fight antisemitism. However, he argued the Trump administration's requests would go too far.

"The administration's plan goes beyond the federal government's authority." It goes beyond the statutory limits of the government's authority under Title VI," Garber wrote. "It violates Harvard's rights under the First Amendment." "As a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge, it also threatens our values." No government, no matter which party is in power, should control what private universities can teach, who they can admit, who they can hire, and what kinds of research they can do. The letter came days after faculty members at Harvard University asked a federal judge to block the Trump administration's attempt to cut off billions in funding, arguing the threat of a funding cut is an "existential 'gun to the head' for a university."

"Undermining free speech and academic inquiry in service of the government's political or policy preferences" was the claim made in a lawsuit filed on April 11 by two organizations representing Harvard University faculty.

The lawsuit stated, "This case involves an unprecedented threat from the Trump administration to withhold nearly nine billion dollars in federal funding to one of our nation's leading universities unless it accedes to changes that fundamentally compromise the university's independence and the free speech rights of its faculty and students," and asked a judge to issue an emergency order prohibiting the Trump administration from tying funding to changes in policy.

The American Association of University Professors and its chapter at Harvard argued that the Trump administration failed to follow the specific procedure put in place by the Civil Rights Act to terminate funding, instead threatening to terminate $255 million in funding, in addition to nearly $9 billion in multiyear grants, unless the school implements a series of policy changes.

"Remedies that target the causes of any determination of noncompliance with federal law are not offered by these broad, ambiguous demands. Instead, they overtly seek to impose on Harvard University political views and policy preferences advanced by the Trump administration and commit the university to punishing disfavored speech," the lawsuit alleged.

Others within the higher education community have stood with Harvard in its response.

Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president of the advocacy group the Education Trust, told ABC News the decision by Garber to reject the administration's demands is being celebrated throughout the higher education community.

"It represents hope for institutions that have been afraid to stand up to an administration that is trying to implement its will, not only on the admissions of institutions, but ultimately on the curriculum as well," Del Pilar stated. "What it really represents for higher education is hope."

The confrontation follows similar actions against other prestigious universities.

Following protests on the campus, Columbia University agreed to comply with the administration's demands regarding campus governance and policies last month. The agreement came after the administration cited concerns about antisemitism and public safety.

The Department of Education has also initiated investigations into Cornell University and Northwestern University, according to White House officials. Due to investigations into alleged violations of civil rights, the Trump administration has stopped providing $790 million to Northwestern and more than $1 billion to Cornell.