[AnimalMuppet]

I question whether Trump has the legitimate legal authority to decide the taxable status of specific institutions. If he wants to change the rules about what qualifies for tax-exempt status, that takes an act of Congress (which he can probably get, eventually).

What he can do is tell the IRS to go through the existing rules and find a reason why Harvard doesn't qualify for tax-exempt status. The problems will be that, first, whatever the reason given will be, it will head for a court case, and second, it will be almost impossible to interpret the rules so that the new interpretation hits Harvard only (and not, say, the other Ivy League schools).

[UncleMeat]

> What he can do is tell the IRS to go through the existing rules and find a reason why Harvard doesn't qualify for tax-exempt status.

No. Even this is illegal. There's specific legislation about this, which explicitly covers the president. The president is not allowed to tell anybody at the IRS to investigate any individual person or organization.

[AnimalMuppet]

I would love for you to be right. Can you point me to the ruling/precedent/statute that covers this?

[boroboro4]

It's 26 USC § 7217: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7217. However with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States ruling it is, I guess, unprosecutable?

[xenospn]

This is just one of those things he says to appeal to his base. Nothing will come out of it.

[duxup]

I think actual firings, funding cuts, contract cuts, programs ending have already occurred regardless of how legal the acts that caused them to occur they are.