NEW YORK – The US District Court for the District of Massachusetts last week made permanent a nationwide injunction barring the US National Institutes of Health from implementing a cut to facilities and administrative costs — also known as indirect costs — for research grants.
The same court had issued a temporary injunction in March.
The NIH-proposed guidance sought to cap indirect cost reimbursement at 15 percent, down from an average of 28 percent. After the Trump administration issued the policy on Feb. 7, 22 state attorneys general, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Association of American Universities filed three separate lawsuits on Feb. 10.
Judge Angel Kelley, who issued the permanent injunction, wrote that the administration's policy violated other established laws, was "arbitrary and capricious," failed to follow notice-and-comment procedures, and was "impermissibly retroactive."
Additionally, the court concluded that enforcing the guidance could cause "irreparable harm" to research institutions, clinical trials, and public health.
It remains unclear whether the Trump administration will challenge the injunction or attempt to achieve the same funding adjustments through other avenues. The seven-month continuing resolution passed by Congress on March 15 that extends funding for the federal government through the end of September extends statutory language preventing the administration from imposing any caps on F&A cost reimbursement.
Stakeholders from across academia and industry have expressed concern that these and other cuts to federally funded research will stifle such research, reduce opportunities to create academic spinouts, limit the growth of research and development pipelines, and reduce investment opportunities in the life sciences.