\n<\/p>\n
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they\u2019re published.<\/p>\n
What Happened:<\/strong> A federal judge ruled on Monday that the Trump administration\u2019s termination of hundreds of grants by the National Institutes of Health was \u201cvoid and illegal,\u201d ordering some of them to be reinstated, including many profiled by ProPublica in recent months.<\/p>\n District Judge William G. Young made the ruling in two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration\u2019s directives and cancellations: One case was brought by more than a dozen states\u2019 attorneys general, and the other was led by the American Public Health Association alongside several other organizations and researchers.<\/p>\n In Monday\u2019s ruling, the judge determined that the directives that led to the grant terminations were \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d and said they had \u201cno force and effect.\u201d The judge\u2019s ruling ordered the funding of the grants to be restored. It only covers grants that have been identified by the plaintiffs in the cases.<\/p>\n \n Shattered Science: The Research Lost as Trump Targets NIH Funding<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n What the Judge Said:<\/strong> After Young ruled that the agency directives and terminations were illegal, he noted that the government\u2019s practices were discriminatory.<\/p>\n \u201cThis represents racial discrimination, and discrimination against America\u2019s LGBTQ community,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out, and I do so.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, the Trump administration banned the NIH from funding grants that had a connection to \u201cdiversity, equity and inclusion,\u201d alleging that such research may be discriminatory. ProPublica previously found that caught up in mass terminations was research focused on why some populations \u2014 including women and sexual, racial or ethnic minorities \u2014 may be more at risk of certain disorders or diseases.<\/p>\n \u201cI have never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable,\u201d Young said during Monday\u2019s hearing. \u201cI\u2019ve sat on this bench now for 40 years, and I\u2019ve never seen government racial discrimination like this, and I confine my remarks to this record, to health care.\u201d<\/p>\n He also noted the administration\u2019s targeting of LGBTQ+ research. \u201cIt is palpably clear these directives and the set of terminated grants here also are designed to frustrate, to stop research that may bear on the health \u2014 we are talking about health here \u2014 the health of Americans, of our LGBTQ community,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s appalling.\u201d<\/p>\n Background:<\/strong> In recent months, ProPublica has been covering the toll of the grant cancellations by the NIH. More than 150 researchers, scientists and investigators have reached out to ProPublica and shared their experiences, revealing how the terminations are dramatically reshaping the biomedical and scientific enterprise of the nation at large.<\/p>\n They described how years of federally funded research may never be published, how critical treatments may never be developed and how millions of patients could be harmed.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo and a half years into a three-year grant, and to all of a sudden stop and not fully be able to answer the original questions, it\u2019s just a waste,\u201d said Brown University associate professor Ethan Moitra, whose grant studying mental health treatment for LGBTQ+ people was terminated.<\/p>\n Response:<\/strong> White House spokesperson Kush Desai said it was \u201cappalling that a federal judge would use court proceedings to express his political views and preferences,\u201d adding that \u201cjustice ceases to be administered when a judge clearly rules on the basis of his political ideologies.\u201d<\/p>\n Desai also defended the administration\u2019s policies targeting \u201cdiversity, equity and inclusion,\u201d calling it a \u201cflawed and racist logic.\u201d He also said that the administration was committed to \u201crestoring the Gold Standard of Science,\u201d which he claimed involves a recognition of the \u201cbiological reality of the male and female sexes.\u201d The NIH, he said, is shifting \u201cresearch spending to address our chronic disease crisis instead, not to validate ideological activism.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew G. Nixon, the director of communications for the Department of Health and Human Services, told ProPublica that the agency \u201cstands by its decision to end funding for research that prioritized ideological agendas over scientific rigor and meaningful outcomes for the American people,\u201d and that it was \u201cexploring all legal options, including filing an appeal and moving to stay the order.\u201d<\/p>\n Why It Matters:<\/strong> The mass cancellation of grants in response to political policy shifts has no historical precedent, experts told ProPublica, and marks an extraordinary departure from the agency\u2019s established practices. ProPublica previously revealed that the Department of Government Efficiency \u2014 the administration\u2019s cost-cutting initiative \u2014\u2014 gave the agency direction on what to cut and why, raising questions about the provenance of the terminations.<\/p>\n The judge’s ruling adds to a growing number of legal decisions halting or scaling back the administration\u2019s actions. As of Monday, according to The New York Times, there have been more than 180 rulings that have \u201cat least temporarily paused\u201d the administration\u2019s practices.<\/p>\n Whether the administration follows Monday\u2019s ruling, however, remains an open question. As ProPublica reported, the NIH has previously terminated research grants even after a federal judge blocked such cuts, and the administration has disregarded several other rulings.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the vacation of these particular grant terminations, the vacation of these directives, taken as a whole, does not result in forthwith disbursement of funds,\u201d Young said in Monday\u2019s hearing, \u201cthe court has ample jurisdiction.\u201d<\/p>\n Were you involved in a clinical trial, participating in research or receiving services that have ended, been paused or been delayed because of canceled federal funding? Our reporters want to hear from you. To share your experience, contact our reporting team at [email\u00a0protected]<\/span>.<\/p>\n Asia Fields contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they\u2019re published. What Happened: A federal judge ruled on Monday that the Trump administration\u2019s termination of hundreds of grants by the National Institutes of Health was \u201cvoid and illegal,\u201d ordering some of them to be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[403,406,408,405,247,407,404,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-8757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-administrations","9":"tag-grants","10":"tag-illegal","11":"tag-nih","12":"tag-propublica","13":"tag-ruled","14":"tag-termination","15":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}