A U.S. district court judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration's effort to cap medical research after attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the plan.

The state attorneys general lawsuits alleges the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health unlawfully slashed funds for cutting-edge medical and public health research.

What You Need To Know

  • A U.S. district court judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s effort to cap medical research after attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the plan
  • The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Boston challenges the Trump administration, Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health over efforts to reduce indirect costs to these institutions, including lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs
  • Last week, the NIH announced it was cutting payments toward overhead costs for research institutions that receive its grants, a policy that could leave universities with major budget gaps

The states argue that research into treating and curing human disease “will grind to a halt" and people would lose access to “modern gene editing, vaccines such as flu vaccines, and cures for diseases like cancer, infectious diseases, and addiction.”

U.S. district court judge Angel Kelley granted the states’ request for a restraining order and scheduled a hearing for Feb. 21.

“We are suing President Trump and his administration because they are once again violating the law,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. Bonta was one of 23 AGs who sued the Trump administration in January to stop the federal funding freeze that is now under a court-mandated temporary restraining order.

“Let’s be clear about what they are seeking to do now: They want to eviscerate funding for medical research that helps develop new cures and treatments for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s,” Bonta added.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, whose state has several significant research institutions including Brown University and the University of Rhode Island, said the Trump administration seemed “hell-bent on upending advancement in this country.”

“This reduction in funding would seriously threaten the future of this research,” Neronha said in a statement. "If you’ve ever wished for a cure, for better treatment options, for yourself or a loved one, this should feel personal.”

On Friday, the NIH said it is cutting its reimbursement costs for health research institutions 15% across the board, effective Monday. Indirect costs cover facilities and their administration. 

"Most private foundations that fund research provide substantially lower indirect costs than the federal government, and universities readily accept grants from these foundations," the NIH said in a statement Friday.

"Although cognizant that grant recipients, particularly 'new or inexperienced organizations,' use grant funds to cover indirect costs like overhead ... NIH is obligated to carefully steward grant awards to ensure taxpayer dollars are used in ways that benefit the American people and improve their quality of life," the NIH continued.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told Spectrum News that NIH awarded at least $35 billion in research grants last year, of which $9 billion went to "indirect costs." The agency said many universities' indirect cost rates are more than 50%, "which means that a very large portion of funding granted to a university is not going to direct research."

The attorneys general's lawsuit against the NIH, HHS and Trump administration says the funding cuts are likely to end clinical trials that are currently underway and result in staff cuts and lab closures at health research institutions across the country.

Filed by AGs for Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, the lawsuit alleges the Trump administration is violating the longstanding Administrative Procedure Act. 

The federal law has existed since 1946, when it established federal agency procedures for making rules. The lawsuit claims the NIH is prohibited from requiring “categorical and indiscriminate changes to indirect cost reimbursements” that are negotiated between research institutions and the federal government through a regulated process.

Bonta said the stakes are especially high in California, where the University of California and California State University systems operate dozens of health professional science schools, cancer centers and academic medical centers.

“The NIH’s drastic reduction in reimbursement for previously agreed upon administrative costs will leave the California State University’s 23 universities with millions in unfunded expenses, jeopardizing critical research and support systems needed for program success,” CSU spokesperson Jason Maymon said in a statement. “This decision threatens not only groundbreaking research but also the future of student innovation and scientific progress.”

The lawsuit alleges cutting HHS and NIH grants would devastate the country’s health research efforts, undermine the country’s global competitiveness and delay progress toward the treatment and cure of serious diseases.