Donald Trump has gone to war with colleges and universities over woke policies. I support the fight, but Trump is using a losing tactic in blocking funding that has already been approved by Congress.
To that point, his freeze was just blocked again, so I have to question why every new budget, even under this administration, includes funding for these schools.
When I write about this, a lot of people think I am taking a shot at Trump, but that is not the case at all.
My job here is to tell you guys the truth, and per the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, no funds approved by Congress and signed off on by a sitting president can be withheld, save very few exceptions.
When Trump issued these funding freezes, he only had the right to temporarily freeze them before the funds had to be released.
The hard truth is that Trump’s orders to revoke the funding were unconstitutional, but again, so why do new funding bills continue to earmark funds for these schools?
In April, Trump announced that $2.2 billion in funding for Harvard was being frozen.
The administration was also looking to cancel about $60 million in contracts it had with the school.
Harvard President Alan Garber responded, “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
The case fell before Boston-based District Judge Allison Burroughs, who was appointed by Barack Obama, and he predictably ruled against Trump.
Burroughs stated that he believes the funding cuts were retaliation “against Harvard for refusing to capitulate to the government’s demands.”
He added, “That ‘fight’ (Harvard’s decision to speak out and litigate its case in the courts and the marketplace of ideas), however, is indisputably protected by the First Amendment.”
The way to fight this is by stopping the giving of these schools' grants, especially Harvard, which has the richest endowment in the country. Much of the funding given to these schools is for research, which the taxpayer does not financially benefit from in any way, so let the endowments cover the research grants. Maybe I am being pigheaded, but I just don’t see the need for taxpayers to give these schools billions every year when they are flush with cash from endowments. Small schools, trade schools, etc., by all means, but not these Ivy League schools and top universities that bleed people dry just to go there.
