Judge Dismisses Trump DOJ Lawsuit Seeking Harvard Admissions Data
A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to force Harvard University to hand over detailed admissions records, but the government says it plans to try again.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun of Massachusetts tossed the case on Monday, ruling that the Justice Department had not shown it followed the required procedures before suing. The dismissal was without prejudice, meaning the government can refile.
What the Government Wanted
The Justice Department sued Harvard in February, accusing the university of withholding information needed to determine whether it still considers race in admissions. The Supreme Court barred affirmative action in college admissions in 2023.
As part of a compliance review opened in 2025, officials sought five years of data on applicants to Harvard's undergraduate, medical and law schools. The request included grades, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities, admissions decisions and race and ethnicity, according to The Associated Press.
"Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination," then-Attorney General Pam Bondi said when the suit was filed. An amended complaint in May alleged Harvard was also withholding information from the Education Department.
Why the Judge Dismissed the Case
In his 10-page decision, Joun found that the government had not adequately shown it completed the steps required before taking a university to court. Under federal rules, he wrote, "the agency must advise the recipient of its failure to comply" before enforcement action.
Joun noted that federal officials had made repeated requests for records and warned Harvard of possible enforcement. But he said the complaint did not show officials had told Harvard they would sue if it did not comply, or clearly identify the specific compliance failure, Fox News reported.
The judge stressed that his ruling was narrow. It "does not determine whether Harvard has discriminated," he wrote. "Nothing in this decision converts the Government's request for information into an accusation of present discrimination."
He also left the door open for the case to return, writing that the government "may be able to identify a qualifying determination or cure the procedural deficiency."
Both Sides Respond
The Justice Department said it plans to refile. "The Court dismissed the case without prejudice on a narrow pleading question," a DOJ spokesperson said. "We will do exactly that," according to Inside Higher Ed. The department said Harvard "continues to refuse to provide the admissions information" it must produce as a recipient of federal funds.
The Education Department was more pointed. Spokesperson Ellen Keast said "Harvard's rampant discrimination against teenage applicants was well-documented" and accused "a Democrat-appointed judge" of "shielding Harvard from accountability." Joun was appointed by former President Joe Biden.
Harvard has argued that the Justice Department did not engage with its objections to the scope and burden of the data requests. Its attorneys have also argued the lawsuit is part of a broader retaliation campaign after the university resisted government demands to change its governance and academic policies. The judge did not rule on that claim.
Part of a Larger Fight
The case is one piece of a long-running battle between the Trump administration and Harvard. The administration previously froze more than $2 billion in grants and contracts after the university refused to comply with federal demands related to antisemitism on campus.
Trump officials say they are acting over allegations of anti-Jewish bias, while Harvard says it faces "unconstitutional retaliation" for refusing to adopt the administration's views.
The administration has also targeted other schools over admissions. In October, the Justice Department found that UCLA's law school illegally considered race, following a similar finding against its medical school. It has also accused UC Berkeley's law school and UC San Diego's medical school of discriminating against white and Asian applicants.
For now, the question of whether Harvard's admissions comply with the Supreme Court's ruling remains unresolved.
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