New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 21 other attorneys general secured a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing the Trump administration – including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – from cutting billions of dollars in critical funding that supports cutting-edge medical and public health research at institutions across the country.
“The president may want to play politics with public health, but we refuse to risk the resources Americans rely on,” James said. “Without this lawsuit, New York could have lost $850 million in funding and researchers would have been forced to abandon vital research projects on cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We will always fight back against these harmful, illegal cuts that slow down life-saving medical research, hurt our economy, and take away jobs.”
On February 7, NIH announced it would abruptly slash indirect cost rates for research grants to 15 percent across the board, significantly less than the cost required to conduct advanced medical research. The NIH also announced that cuts would go into effect the next business day – February 10 – giving universities and institutions no time to plan for the enormous budget gaps they would face.
On February 10, James and the coalition filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, HHS, and NIH challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut indirect cost reimbursements at every research institution throughout the country. Less than six hours after the attorneys general filed their lawsuit, the court issued a temporary restraining order against NIH, barring it from cutting billions in funding for biomedical and public health research.
Today’s order extends the protections of the TRO and bars the administration from cutting billions in funding for biomedical and public health research, ensuring this critical, life-saving research can continue nationwide, according to James.
The NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the United States. Medical research funding by NIH grants has led to innumerable scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types, the first sequencing of DNA, and the development of the MRI. Additionally, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes for their groundbreaking scientific work. Most NIH-funded research occurs outside of federal government institutions such as public and private universities and colleges.
In New York, there is currently $5 billion in open NIH grants to institutions throughout the state. If the proposed funding cap was allowed to take effect, approximately 250 institutions in New York would be impacted, encompassing most universities and medical schools in the state. New York institutions stand to lose approximately $850 million from this policy, according to James. For example, the State University of New York (SUNY) system – including the University at Albany, Stony Brook, and the University at Buffalo – stands to lose $78 million through the full life of its current grants and would have to abandon groundbreaking research projects on cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease if the cap went forward, said James.