A federal appeals court affirmed that the Trump administration and federal agencies can’t make cuts to funding that supports cutting-edge medical and public health research.
The unanimous decision on Monday from the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit came after Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and 21 other attorneys general filed a lawsuit in February last year against the federal government.
Others also sued, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brandeis University and Tufts University and over a dozen institutions. Their lawsuit was lumped into the same appeals decision.
The lawsuits challenged the Trump administration and federal agencies, like the National Institutes of Health, over efforts to reduce indirect costs paid to universities and research institutions.
Indirect costs are expenses such as lab maintenance, utilities and administrative staff that universities use federal money to cover. The Trump administration argues that federal dollars should instead go directly to scientific research.
Some universities receive 50% or more of the amount of a grant to put toward support staff and other needs, but that would be capped at 15%, producing major budget shortfalls.
The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order in February that blocked the funding cuts, then issued a permanent injunction to keep them blocked.
“Universities and research institutions across the country rely on NIH funding to conduct groundbreaking research, and patients and families depend on those medical advancements to improve and even save their lives,” Campbell said. “Today’s victory sends a clear message that the Trump Administration cannot sacrifice the health of our residents for its own political agenda.”
In the 2024 budget year, 219 organizations in Massachusetts received approximately $3.46 billion in NIH funding to support 5,783 research projects, according to Campbell’s office.
Schools that benefited from the money include UMass Amherst, UMass Chan Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Indirect costs being cut to 15% would have amounted to a decrease of $30 to $35 million a year at MIT, according to a February letter from President Sally Kornbluth.
That could have impacted research focused on treatments and cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Lyme disease and autism, she said.
“We believe these proposed cuts are unlawful and pose a direct threat to MIT’s mission — and they fracture the compact between the U.S. government and its research institutions that, since the end of World War II, has fueled America’s innovation economy and ensured the nation’s security, prosperity and quality of life,” Kornbluth said in February.
