A federal judge in Boston said Monday the termination of National Institutes of Health grants for research on diversity-related topics by the Trump administration was “void and illegal” and accused the government of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBTQ people.
U.S. District Judge William Young said during a nonjury trial that the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Young said he was reinstating grants that had been awarded to organizations and Democratic-led states that sued over the terminations. And he indicated that he could issue a more sweeping decision as the case proceeds.
“This represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” said Young, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan. “Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I’m going to do it.”
Referring to the termination of grants for research related to issues involving racial minorities, Young said that in four decades on the bench, he had “never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable.”
“You are bearing down on people of color because of their color,” he said, referring to the Trump administration. “The Constitution will not permit that.”
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, said it would consider an appeal of the order.
"HHS stands by its decision to end funding for research that prioritized ideological agendas over scientific rigor and meaningful outcomes for the American people," HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement. "Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration, HHS is committed to ensuring that taxpayer dollars support programs rooted in evidence-based practices and gold standard science – not driven by divisive DEI mandates or gender ideology. HHS is exploring all legal options, including filing an appeal and moving to stay the order."
Rachel Meeropol of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the grant recipients who sued, said Young’s ruling applies to hundreds of grants. The plaintiffs include the American Public Health Association, a membership organization for public health researchers, and 16 states led by Massachusetts.
The NIH, the world’s leading funder of biomedical and behavioral research, has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling about $9.5 billion and an additional $2.6 billion in contracts since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, according to a letter that dozens of NIH employees signed on to last week protesting the cuts.
The funding cuts are part of Trump’s wide-ranging actions to reshape the government, slash federal spending and end government support for DEI programs and transgender health care. Another federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration’s plans to cut 10,000 jobs at NIH and other health agencies.
Trump also has signed a series of executive orders requiring agencies to ensure grant funds do not promote “gender ideology” and to end support of what the administration sees as “discriminatory” DEI programs. Conservative critics have portrayed DEI programs as discriminatory against white people and certain others.
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In line with Trump’s policy agenda, the NIH has instructed staff members to terminate grant funding for studies related to DEI programs, transgender issues, Covid-19 and ways to curb vaccine hesitancy, as well as grants that could benefit Chinese universities.
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The trial Young held Monday concerned only some of the claims in the consolidated lawsuits over the cuts. He will consider others later.
Young said he would give the parties an opportunity to present further evidence before he rules on those claims and decides whether to reinstate grants beyond those awarded to the plaintiffs.
The NIH grant terminations, as well as a slowdown in approving and renewing grants, have reverberated through universities across the country, many of which have faced losing the vast majority of their research budgets.
In response, universities implemented hiring freezes, travel restrictions, class size reductions, furloughs and layoffs.
Many colleges depend on NIH grants for the majority of their research budgets. The University of Washington, a top public university for biomedical research, for example, said it received about 1,220 grants from NIH and about $648 million in funding last fiscal year, according to court filings.
Students and faculty members at the university said the disruption to grant funding has touched off a brain drain from the United States as researchers increasingly leave for positions abroad. The slowdowns have also endangered long-running studies, including a program to bank and study Alzheimer's patients' brains.
The Trump administration has tried to cut other key sources of research funding.
In February, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley blocked a rule that would have vastly limited how much the government paid out for the indirect costs of research like equipment, maintenance, utilities and support staff. The administration had estimated that the move would cut $4 billion in funding to research centers.
