Appeals court blocks Trump Administration from defunding medical and public health research

Attorney General Kathy Jennings today issued the following statement after the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling permanently preventing the Trump Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from implementing a policy that would cut billions of dollars in funds that support cutting-edge medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country, regardless of whether their state joined the lawsuit:

"It continues to be beyond both belief and reason that this Administration is trying to gut life-saving medical and public health research. Fortunately, the Court has affirmed what we already knew: these proposed cuts are illegal. The groundbreaking work from these sectors is a crown jewel of both Delaware and America at large, and I will continue to fight tooth and nail to protect it."

The ruling protects critical funds that facilitate biomedical research, like lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs. Without them, the lifesaving and life-changing medical research in which the United States - and Delaware, in particular - has long been a leader, could be compromised. Most NIH-funded research occurs outside of the federal government in institutions such as public and private universities and colleges. The NIH's proposed reduction of funds would hit those institutions especially hard: the University of Delaware, for example, would lose out on approximately $12 million that it needs to support its research programs. The loss of these funds would immediately impact and undermine the University of Delaware's ability to support critical research, meet essential obligations associated with maintaining its research facilities, and support clinical trials in Delaware. Delaware State University would also stand to lose $1.4 million from the NIH cut, which would impact biomedical research programs into Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, breast cancer, and AI-assisted analysis of medical imaging.

On February 10, 2025, less than six hours after AG Jennings and a coalition of 21 other attorneys general filed their lawsuit against the Administration, a judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order against NIH, barring its attempts to cut the critical research funding. The court subsequently issued a permanent injunction preventing the Trump Administration from implementing its policy restrictions on this important category of funding. The Trump Administration appealed that ruling to the First Circuit. The First Circuit's recent ruling denied that appeal, allowing the permanent injunction and invalidation of the Trump Administration's policy restrictions to stand.

NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the United States. Medical research funding by NIH grants have led to innumerable scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types and the first sequencing of DNA. Additionally, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes for their groundbreaking scientific work.

Joining Delaware in filing the lawsuit, which was led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Illinois and Michigan, were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

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