Washington DC: Harvard University sued the President Donald Trump administration on Monday (local time) over constant threats of freezing funding of more than USD 2.2 billion, The New York Times reported.

University President Alan M Garber accused Trump’s administration of trying to wield “unprecedented and improper control,” adding that the government’s action would have “severe and long-lasting” consequences.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, accuses the government of unleashing a broad attack as “leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard.” It also references other major universities that have faced abrupt funding cuts, the New York Times reported.

The Trump administration has threatened to freeze more than $2.2 billion in grants and contracts if the university refused to submit to demands, including it eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, ban masks at campus protests, enact merit-based hiring and admissions reforms, and reduce the power of faculty and administrators the White House has said are “more committed to activism than scholarship.”

Another $1 billion in federal health research contracts to Harvard could also be withheld, The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend

Earlier, Donald Trump criticised Harvard University, denouncing its hiring practices as “woke” and “Radical Left.” He went on to call the institution a “joke” and added that the university should not be considered on any list of the “World’s Great Universities or Colleges.”