Story perspectives

Justice Department Files Complaint Over Universities’ Trump Task Force Settlements

8/21/2026

Summary

Van Erem Sues

Justice Department attorney Haley Van Erem filed a complaint alleging President Donald Trump’s task force forced universities to settle.
Columbia University settled for $200 million following the task force probe.
Harvard University refused to settle; a judge dismissed the case.
Van Erem called the investigations unlawful and designed to achieve political goals.
Professor emerita Marianna Hirsch said Columbia affiliates collaborated with the federal government in sham investigations.

Summary

Keveney Drives Settlement

The investigation began after a single New York Post article triggered it.
An internal memo described a “poison pill” clause forcing universities to accept unlawful liability.
Acting HHS general counsel Sean Keveney instructed staff to work backward from settlement goals.
Whistleblowers were warned not to document objections, fearing a written record.

History

Historical Context

The 1974 enactment of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) mandated federal oversight of university record-keeping, reshaping campus compliance. The U.S. Department of Education, overseeing $70 billion in annual aid, reported that FERPA protected records for roughly 20 million students by 1990. Today, the Justice Department’s task force, led by attorney Haley Van Erem, invokes similar authority to pressure Columbia and Harvard, echoing FERPA’s settlement-driven tactics. If courts deem these coercive settlements unlawful, the precedent set by FERPA’s original privacy safeguards could limit future federal leverage over academic institutions.

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Van Erem Sues

Justice Department attorney Haley Van Erem filed a complaint alleging President Donald Trump’s task force forced universities to settle.
Columbia University settled for $200 million following the task force probe.
Harvard University refused to settle; a judge dismissed the case.
Van Erem called the investigations unlawful and designed to achieve political goals.
Professor emerita Marianna Hirsch said Columbia affiliates collaborated with the federal government in sham investigations.

1 / 3