BOSTON — In a bold stand against what critics call a federal “bribe,” the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has become the first major U.S. university to publicly reject the Trump administration’s proposal tying billions in federal funding to strict policy concessions on international students and transgender rights.
The decision, announced Friday by MIT President Sally Kornbluth, drew immediate applause from an unlikely ally: Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, a Kentucky lawmaker and MIT alumnus who’s increasingly bucking his party’s MAGA mainstream.
Kornbluth’s letter to the Department of Education laid out MIT’s position with characteristic precision, stating, “In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences.”
She added, “Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.” The memo, sent earlier this month to nine elite institutions including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale, offered “competitive advantages” like priority grants and White House invites in exchange for capping international student enrollment and barring transgender athletes from competing according to their gender identity—conditions aligned with the administration’s “America First” agenda.
Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican and vocal Trump critic, lit up X late Friday with his endorsement, stating, “The surest way to screw up the world’s best technical school is to let feds tell them how to run it.” He followed up: “Congrats to my alma mater for turning down a bribe to let the executive branch dictate what happens on its campus. A lot of things are wrong in [the U.S.], but MIT is not one of them.”
The Class of 1993 grad, who earned degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, has positioned himself as a defender of institutional autonomy, often clashing with Trump’s more interventionist impulses.
The White House pushed back swiftly. A spokesperson told NBC News the compact isn’t a funding cutoff but a “competitive advantage” for compliant schools, stating, “The Administration does not plan to limit federal funding solely to schools that sign the compact, but they would be given priority for grants when possible as well as invitations for White House events and discussions with officials.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the initiative as a way to “ensure taxpayer dollars support American values,” tying it to broader reviews of university DEI programs and foreign student visas amid a 19% drop in international arrivals this year.
MIT’s rejection sets a tone for higher ed’s resistance. Kornbluth emphasized the stakes for innovation, stating, “MIT’s success has always been rooted in our ability to attract the world’s brightest minds, regardless of background.”
The move aligns with a wave of pushback against Trump’s higher education policies, including a May 2025 executive order freezing $1.2 billion in federal research grants to non-compliant institutions and a proposed 15% cap on international students—measures that have already prompted lawsuits from the American Council on Education.
A Growing Rebellion: Universities Dig In Against Federal Strings
MIT isn’t alone in drawing a line. Harvard President Alan Garber penned a similar letter last week, calling the compact “an unprecedented intrusion into academic decision-making” and warning it could “undermine the merit-based excellence that defines American higher education.”
Stanford followed suit on October 4, with Provost Jenny Martinez stating, “We will not trade our independence for funding preferences.”
Yale, Princeton, and Columbia have signaled non-compliance, with a joint statement from Ivy League presidents on October 6 decrying the proposals as “a threat to the free exchange of ideas essential to discovery.”
The administration’s push stems from a June 2025 Department of Education audit flagging $2.5 billion in “misallocated” funds to “woke” programs at top schools, per a White House fact sheet.
Critics like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) argue it’s retaliation for campus protests over Gaza and DEI initiatives.
“This is the government using the purse strings to silence dissent,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff told The Chronicle of Higher Education.
A federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked parts of the freeze on October 2, ruling it “likely unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.”
Broader tensions simmer. Trump’s FCC threats against universities for “anti-American” curricula—echoed in a September 2025 executive order mandating “patriotic education” reviews—have chilled academic freedom, per a AAUP report showing a 25% drop in international faculty applications.
Massie’s Maverick Streak: From Epstein to Education, a GOP Outlier
Massie’s praise for MIT fits his contrarian profile. The congressman, a Freedom Caucus founder who’s voted against Trump-backed bills 20% of the time, co-sponsored the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act with Democrat Ro Khanna, filing a discharge petition on October 8 to force a House vote on releasing the sex trafficker’s records.
Other GOP members such as Marjorie Taylor Greene have join the bipartisan fight.
“Transparency isn’t partisan—it’s American,” Massie posted on X, drawing 15,000 likes.
He’s clashed with Trump over Ukraine aid, calling it a “money pit,” and criticized the government’s shutdown tactics as “self-inflicted wounds.”
In a September 2025 interview with The Bulwark, Massie lamented GOP conformity, stating, “The party’s leaving me, or I’m leaving the party—either way, principles win.”
His MIT nod echoes that: A tech-savvy alum defending academic freedom against federal meddling.
Trump has lashed out at Massie before, labeling him a “grandstander” and “loser” on Truth Social in July 2025 and threatening primary support.
Yet Massie’s district remains rock-solid Republican, giving him leeway few have.
As elite schools like MIT hold firm, the funding fight could head to court, testing the limits of executive power over academia.
For now, Kornbluth’s stand—and Massie’s unexpected cheer—signals a cross-aisle pushback against strings-attached dollars, reminding Washington that innovation thrives on freedom, not favors.
Also Read: Republicans Face Growing Backlash as Voters Blame Them for Govt. Shutdown
Follow us on X: @NezMediaCompany
