Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the Trump administration is prepared to step up its crackdown on Harvard if the Ivy League university continues operating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that violate federal law.

Appearing on the latest episode of the Pod Force One podcast, McMahon said Harvard remains on notice as the administration continues its push to root out what it considers unlawful discrimination in higher education.

"Having always the hammer, if you will, of investigation, of losing federal funding for research and programs, as well as having lawsuits potentially brought by the Department of Justice are certainly things that they bear in mind as well," she said.

Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has made eliminating DEI programs at colleges and universities a key priority.

His administration has launched investigations into Harvard over alleged antisemitism and race-based admissions practices, while the Justice Department has sued the university for allegedly withholding admissions data.

The White House also sought to revoke $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard after determining the university was not complying with federal civil rights laws. A federal judge later ordered the funding restored, and the Trump administration has appealed the ruling.

McMahon said the administration has no desire to deprive universities of critical research funding but made clear that compliance with federal law is nonnegotiable.

"It is not the goal or the desire of the federal government to take away that funding, because our research universities provide an unbelievable amount of very effective and good research and invention for the country," she said.

"We want to make sure that that research can continue, but they just need to know that they're going to have to operate within the confines of the law to do that," McMahon added.

She also suggested some universities are attempting to preserve DEI initiatives by simply changing their names.

"It is my sincere hope that many of them have seen the error in doing that," McMahon said. "What we have seen as a result of a lot of the action that we have taken is there have been civics institutes set up on many of the campuses where civics is taught, history of our country is taught, and less of the ideology."

Still, McMahon said she remains skeptical.

"However, if I'm looking at it objectively, I would bet that there are many who have just changed the name and maybe given it enough window dressing that it's passed muster for the time being," she said.

Conservative legal groups have alleged Harvard continues operating taxpayer-funded DEI programs despite the administration's directives.

Trump administration officials have pointed to schools including Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as examples of universities that have rolled back DEI initiatives or related policies after facing federal pressure.

McMahon, who led WWE before serving in Trump's first administration, also joked about her transition from professional wrestling to Washington.

"I've actually not been turned upside down and made to look as though I landed on my head yet, but there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, that is for sure," she said.