Trump administration threatens all Duke Health funding over alleged race policies
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- The Trump administration threatened to end Duke Health's federal funding over alleged race-based hiring and admissions practices.
- Duke has 10 business days to form a review committee or face intensified scrutiny by the federal government.
- Duke received nearly $300 million in NIH funding in 2025, the most in North Carolina.
The Trump administration says it could sever all funding for Duke Health if the medical system does not address allegations of race-based policies at the Duke University of School of Medicine and major health system overall.
In a letter Monday to top Duke University officials, Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote alleged discriminatory practices would “render Duke Health unfit for any further financial relationship with the federal government.”
“This vile racism carries a host of excuses,” the two Trump officials wrote. “And hides behind a smug superiority that such ‘benefitted’ races cannot compete under merit-based consideration.”
They called on Duke to review its health system policies for “illegal use of race preferences” and act to change these practices.
On Tuesday, CNN and Fox News reported that the Trump administration has frozen $108 million in federal funds with Fox News citing “a senior administration official.” The News & Observer has not independently confirmed the report. A Duke spokesperson told The N&O Tuesday they would look into the report.
Kennedy and McMahon did not provide specific examples of discrimination at Duke or any evidence but said the alleged actions involve recruitment, admissions, financial aid, mentoring, hiring and promotion.
Duke’s alleged policies, they said, violate Section VI of the Civil Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination based on religion, sex, national origin or race, and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits similar discrimination.
Their letter was addressed to Duke University President Vincent Price, Duke University Board of Trustees chair Adam Silver, and Duke University School of Medicine Dean Mary Klotman. It said Duke has 20 business days to respond to the government’s request for information and documents as part of an investigation conducted by the Health Department’s Office for Civil Rights.
Doubting Duke would be “capable of an honest and trustworthy review,” Kennedy and McMahon requested the university form a “Merit and Civil Rights Committee” to examine the health system’s practices over a six-month period.
“The Committee must be made up of those members of Duke’s leadership and medical faculty most distinguished in and devoted to genuine excellence in the field of medicine,” the Trump administration wrote. “And the members chosen must satisfy the federal government as to their competence and good faith.”
The administration told Duke it has 10 business days to decide whether it will form a “Merit and Civil Rights Committee.”
Duke University has not yet provided a statement on the letter or whether it will form this committee. The elite Durham school receives a substantial amount of federal funding each year, its health system included. So far in 2025, Duke University has been awarded nearly $300 million from the National Institutes of Health, the most of any North Carolina institution. The school last year received more than $580 million from NIH.
Since President Donald Trump retook office in January, the administration says the Health Department’s Office for Civil Rights has opened seven other investigations into health care organizations. In March, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights began investigating 45 universities, including Duke University, for possible violations.
The administration has also battled with elite private universities over alleged failures to address antisemitic behaviors on their campuses. Last week, Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million to the federal government in a settlement that restored funding. And in June, the Trump administration accused Harvard University of violating the Civil Rights Act and threatened to withdraw financial support.
Between the school and health system, Duke is the biggest employer in the Triangle area and among the largest private employers statewide. Federal funding cuts, its leaders say, have already led to mass workforce reductions. On Friday, the university notified faculty and staff it would begin layoffs next month after nearly 600 employees accepted voluntary buyouts.
This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Trump administration threatens all Duke Health funding over alleged race policies."
