Court Overrules Trump's NIH Funding Cuts

A federal court ruled against Trump's planned cuts to NIH funding, aimed at limiting indirect cost coverage for universities. The decision supports several Democratic states and major educational institutions that opposed the cuts, stating they violated NIH regulations and legislative terms from Congress.

On Monday, a federal appeals court thwarted a move by President Donald Trump's administration to significantly reduce federal grant funding administered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research universities. The first U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston maintained an injunction supported by 22 Democratic attorneys general, medical groups, and universities that challenged the planned funding cuts as unlawful.

The NIH's directive from February targeted indirect costs and limited them to 15% of direct research funding, irrespective of institutions' actual expenses. This policy drew backlash, given its potential to cause layoffs and halted clinical trials, particularly at universities with lesser financial reserves. Institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins were noted for charging over 60% for indirect costs.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley blocked the funding cuts, a decision the appeals court upheld, citing Congressional measures laid out since 2018 to prevent such budgetary constraints. The court acknowledged that the administration's actions could have similarly affected the National Science Foundation and the Departments of Defense and Energy, but legal challenges had successfully halted those efforts.

(With inputs from agencies.)