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Harvard paid lobbying firm Ballard Partners $90,000 in the second quarter of 2025 as the University broadened its federal advocacy to include direct engagement with the White House, according to a lobbying disclosure filed Tuesday.

The filing, which covers April through June, shows that Ballard — a firm with ties to several of United States President Donald Trump’s closest advisers — continued to advocate for “education and educational research” on Harvard’s behalf.

But unlike in the first quarter, when the firm listed only Congress and the Department of Education as targets, the latest report names the White House as a lobbying contact — a significant shift as Harvard faces mounting threat from all branches of the federal government.

Harvard also paid Ballard $90,000 in the previous quarter, bringing its total payments to the firm this year to $180,000. In the first quarter alone, the University spent $230,000 on federal lobbying — its highest quarterly total since 2008 — advocating on issues that included student visas, endowment taxation, academic freedom, and, most prominently, federal research funding.

During the reporting period, Harvard found itself under sustained — and unprecedented — attack from the Trump administration and congressional allies. The White House and Republican lawmakers froze nearly $3 billion in federal research funding, moved to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status, scrutinizing foreign donations, pushed for the elimination of diversity programs, and escalated criticism of Harvard’s governance.

International students, in particular, were swept up in the fallout. In late May, the Department of Homeland Security threatened to revoke Harvard’s ability to host international students. Less than two weeks later, Trump signed an executive order restricting entry to the U.S. for students planning to attend the University.

Harvard challenged both actions in court and has since secured preliminary relief.

While Ballard’s lobbying couldn’t prevent Harvard from becoming the Trump administration’s favorite target, its presence in Washington may have helped the University quietly notch key wins behind the scenes.

As part of a recent omnibus spending package — dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” by Trump and his allies — the House initially passed a provision that would have imposed a 21 percent tax on the investment income of wealthy private universities, including Harvard.

But the Senate ultimately brought the rate down to 8 percent before the measure was signed into law by Trump on Independence Day. The smaller tax hike will still cost Harvard $200 million per year.

It remains unclear what direct role Ballard — which Harvard retained in January, just days before Trump’s inauguration — played in that outcome. A spokesperson for Ballard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the firm did lobby both the House and the Senate during the second quarter, according to the Tuesday disclosure.

Most contracts on K Street are structured as fixed-fee retainers, making Harvard’s steady $90,000 payments to Ballard unsurprising despite the firm’s expanded outreach in the second quarter.

Harvard’s in-house team — a group of three attorneys who sit in the University’s office in Washington — has also long represented its interests, including opposing the endowment tax for the last decade per federal disclosures. The University has not yet disclosed what issues its team lobbied on during this reporting period or how much they spent doing so. Their next disclosure is due before the federal reporting deadline on Monday.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 has acknowledged the University’s advocacy efforts in Washington, including its opposition to proposals like the endowment tax. In a May interview with The Crimson, Garber said Harvard — alongside peer institutions – had been working to push back on the measure.

“We are trying to make the case, along with other institutions, that this would not be beneficial for the nation,” he said at the time.

“This is part of the discussions that I have when I meet with people on Capitol Hill, but it is a much broader effort as well,” Garber added.

Ballard’s lobbying team for Harvard includes firm founder and longtime Trump ally Brian D. Ballard, whose personal involvement in lobbying is rare and generally reserved for high-profile clients. Also on the account are Michael LaRosa, former press secretary to First Lady Jill Biden, and Daniel McFaul, a former chief of staff to Republican Reps. Jeff Miller and Matt Gaetz — reflecting Harvard’s efforts to build influence on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue as federal threats mount.

Harvard is not the only university to turn to Trump-aligned firms in recent months. The University of Michigan also hired Ballard ahead of Trump’s inauguration, paying the firm $30,000 in the first quarter. Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University have retained Miller Strategies, another lobbying firm with close ties to Trump’s inner circle.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.