Update: A federal judge in Boston granted an emergency temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s effort to significantly limit funds distributed by the National Institutes of Health. The move was in response to the multi-state lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and joined by 21 other state attorneys general. The order went into effect immediately upon issue Monday evening.
Massachusetts joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s effort to cut funding to health researchers at universities and other institutions across the country.
Last week, the National Institutes of Health announced the agency would limit funding for “indirect costs” to 15% of grants. These costs include lab space, utilities and other necessities to perform health-related research, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
“This work improves our ability to cure and treat diseases and have an impact on all of us, no matter what political party you support,” she said during a press conference announcing the suit on Monday.
The lawsuit — filed by Campbell and peers in 21 other states — names the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the NIH as defendants.
The 15% cap for indirect research costs is far less than is needed and runs counter to the contracts the NIH signed with labs and researchers, Campbell said.
“You don’t need to be a brain surgeon to understand that in order to conduct medical research, institutions need laboratories and clinical trials,” she said. “They need specialized staff and technology support, just as any of our workplaces do, except at an even higher level because the medical research involved is cutting edge and world leading.”
The cuts would hit Massachusetts hard. According to Campbell, 219 in-state institutions received $3.5 billion in NIH funding for more than 6,000 projects in 2024.
In announcing the cap last week, the NIH said in a statement this funding policy would bring costs in line with how private foundations fund research.
“Although cognizant that grant recipients, particularly ‘new or inexperienced organizations,’ use grant funds to cover indirect costs like overhead … NIH is obligated to carefully steward grant awards to ensure taxpayer dollars are used in ways that benefit the American people and improve their quality of life,” the announcement said, according to NPR.
This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to defund indirect research costs, according to Campbell. A similar effort in 2017 was stalled when the Republican-controlled Congress passed a law to continue funding for medical research.
“That law is still in effect,” she said. “Whether the president believes it or not, funding that covers lab costs, faculty, even graduate students, is a critical part of the research process. They are the wheels that keep the trains on track.”
This article was originally published on February 10, 2025.
