22 State Attorneys General File Lawsuit to Halt Trump Administration’s Reductions in NIH Research Funding

February 10, 2025 TruthUSA

Last week, the federal health agency issued orders for significant budget cuts.

A coalition of Democratic attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit on Monday aimed at preventing the Trump administration from implementing cuts amounting to billions of dollars to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), which were ordered late last week.

The lawsuit, lodged in federal court in Boston, seeks to halt reductions to the NIH, specifically targeting the reimbursement rates for indirect costs incurred by research institutions that aren’t directly associated with the objectives of scientific projects. Indirect costs encompass expenses like laboratory space, faculty salaries, equipment, and general infrastructure.

The plaintiffs claim the NIH is overstepping its jurisdiction and breaching federal statutes, with the lead attorneys general hailing from Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan.

“The repercussions of the Rate Change Notice will be both immediate and catastrophic,” the lawsuit warns, citing the actions of the Trump administration. “This agency measure will lead to job cuts, halting of clinical trials, disruption of active research initiatives, and the closure of laboratories.”

Additionally, they argue that the NIH would be unable to pursue “groundbreaking work in treating and curing human ailments,” cautioning that this might hinder advancements that benefit society through research, including modern gene therapies, vaccination developments, and cures for diseases such as cancer, infectious illnesses, and substance abuse disorders.

The state attorneys general emphasized that if these cuts were permitted to take effect, they would likely result in workforce reductions, disruptions in research operations, and the shutdown of laboratories.

The lawsuit is targeting an NIH directive issued recently, which officials claim will save over $4 billion annually. The plaintiffs maintain that the NIH has overstepped its authority by applying the cuts retroactively to existing federal grants and implementing the policy without complying with mandatory rulemaking processes.

According to the NIH, the average indirect cost rate has historically ranged between 27% and 28%, with some organizations exceeding 50% and in specific situations surpassing 60%, as noted in a notice published on February 7.

In the fiscal year 2023, the NIH reported expenditures exceeding $35 billion on grants for researchers across more than 2,500 institutions, of which nearly $9 billion was allocated for indirect costs, according to the agency.

On February 7, the NIH shared a social media post indicating that under the previous model, three prominent institutions—Harvard University, Yale University, and Johns Hopkins University—charged indirect-cost rates exceeding 60%.

Harvard publicly commented on Monday, asserting that the cuts would “dramatically reduce funding and hinder research efforts at Harvard and nearly every major research university in the country.”

President Donald Trump, along with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have advocated for slashing trillions of dollars in what they deem as wasteful spending, fraud, and abuse within the federal government.

“Isn’t it outrageous that universities with vast endowments were skimming off 60% of research award funds for ‘overhead’?” Musk tweeted last week in response to the NIH’s announcement. “What a scam!”

In addition to the 22 state attorneys general, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) voiced her opposition to the NIH directive, asserting that it threatens to impede significant medical advancements by forcing researchers to scramble to compensate for the enormous shortfall and likely leading to widespread layoffs throughout the nation. She highlighted the essential role of NIH in readying the U.S. for health emergencies and maintaining its position as a leader in biomedical research.

The Association of American Medical Colleges echoed similar concerns, stating in a statement released late last week that these cuts would “diminish the nation’s research capacity” and that “laboratories across the country will effectively go dark” if the directive is enforced. The organization urged Trump to reconsider the directive.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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