Judge Dismisses the Trump Administration's Harvard Admissions Lawsuit on the Eve of the Midterms

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by President Donald Trump's administration that sought to force Harvard University to turn over records for an investigation into whether it still considers race in student admissions, Reuters reported. US District Judge Myong Joun in Boston rejected the Justice Department's lawsuit, which Harvard contends was filed as part of a broader campaign by the administration against the Ivy League school.

The Justice Department filed the case in February, arguing Harvard was not complying with investigations into whether it is following the US Supreme Court's 2023 ruling rejecting race-conscious admissions programs. The administration contended that the Justice Department and the Department of Education need years of applicant-level admissions data to determine whether race remains a factor in Harvard's decisions, and it framed the records demand under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars racial discrimination in education programs receiving federal funds.

Harvard has been a top target of the administration's effort to leverage federal funding and government power to force changes at universities the president says are dominated by liberal critics — and the courts have repeatedly pushed back. The Cambridge, Massachusetts university has already secured rulings from other judges rejecting administration efforts to terminate more than $2 billion in its grants. Monday's dismissal lands on the eve of the midterm elections, with control of Congress — and the oversight that comes with it — decided by voters on Tuesday.