NIH funding cuts: Federal judge extends restraining order blocking Trump administration’s action

A Biden-appointed judge extended a temporary restraining order Friday against the Trump administration’s cuts to National Institutes of Health research funding. 

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley of Massachusetts – who issued the initial restraining order last week – comes in response to separate lawsuits filed by a group of 22 states plus organizations representing universities, hospitals and research institutions nationwide.  

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced earlier this month it would be cutting billions in costs associated with federally funded research grants that go to various institutions, as part of a wider move by the Trump administration to slash wasteful spending. 

The NIH, the main funder of biomedical research, awarded more than 60,000 grants last year totaling about $35 billion. The total is divided into “direct” costs – covering researchers’ salaries and laboratory supplies – and “indirect” costs, the administrative and facility costs needed to support that work. 

TRUMP SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER CUTTING BILLIONS IN COSTS FROM NIH RESEARCH GRANTS 

Medical researchers from various universities and the National Institutes of Health rally at Health and Human Services headquarters to protest federal budget cuts on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP/John McDonnell)

The Trump administration had dismissed those expenses as “overhead” but universities and hospitals argue they’re far more critical. They can include such things as electricity to operate sophisticated machinery, hazardous waste disposal, staff who ensure researchers follow safety rules and janitorial workers, according to The Associated Press. 

The states and research groups argue that the cuts are illegal, pointing to bipartisan congressional action during Trump’s first term to prohibit them. 

“Yet here we are again,” attorneys argued in a court motion, saying the NIH is “in open defiance” of what Congress decreed. 

In its own written arguments, the Trump administration said NIH has authority to alter the terms after awarding grants and that Kelley’s courtroom isn’t the proper venue to arbitrate claims of breach of contract. 

States and researchers “have failed to show that they would suffer an irreparable injury,” according to the administration motion. 

SCIENTISTS EXPECT MAJOR ‘MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS’ DESPITE TRUMP’S CAP ON NIH RESEARCH FUNDING 

The National Institutes of Health under President Donald Trump put a cap on indirect costs associated with agency research grants, as part of a wider move to reduce wasteful government spending. (Alamy/Getty Images)

If the new policy stands, indirect costs would be capped at 15% immediately, for already awarded grants and new ones. NIH calculated that would save the agency $4 billion a year. 

Officials at Johns Hopkins University said the cuts would end or require significantly scaling back research projects, potentially including some of the 600 NIH-funded studies open to Hopkins patients. 

“The care, treatments and medical breakthroughs provided to them and their families are not ‘overhead,’” university president Ron Daniels and Hopkins Medicine CEO Theodore DeWeese wrote to employees. 

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, has applauded the moves. 

Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, on Thursday, Feb. 20, in Oxon Hill, Md. Musk has praised the Trump administration’s NIH funding cuts. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)

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“Can you believe that universities with tens of billions in endowments were siphoning off 60% of research award money for ‘overhead’?” Musk posted on social media. “What a ripoff!” 

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.