Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration is escalating its attacks on Harvard University by moving to disqualify the school from future federal grants and funding.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that it would start an investigation into whether Harvard could be barred from receiving further federal funding.

The HHS has referred Harvard to an organization within its Office for Civil Rights that is responsible for suspending and disbarring organizations that have broken Civil Rights rules.

Trump's allies have accused Harvard of enabling discrimination and harassment against Jewish and Israeli students because it allowed anti-genocide and pro-Palestinian protests to take place on campus.

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These charges were the basis for a range of subpoenas levied against the school, as well as numerous funding cuts – many of which have since been struck down in court.

"Congress has empowered Federal agencies to pursue Title VI compliance through formal enforcement mechanisms, including the termination of funding or denial of future Federal financial assistance, when voluntary compliance cannot be achieved," OCR Director Paula M. Stannard said in a statement.

The HHS has given Harvard 20 days to request a hearing into whether it has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in its response to claims of antisemitism.

If HHS proceeds with its threat to suspend all federal funding from Harvard, it would see billions cut from its budget for both education and research.

The announcement of debarment proceedings comes less than two weeks after the Trump administration placed Harvard under "heightened cash monitoring status."