January 5, 2026
Some of the grants funded Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other illnesses, which impacts people of all races and ethnicities.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has agreed to continue evaluating grant applications that were previously denied or left in limbo by the Trump administration’s ideological targeting of research grants. The NIH has decided to move forward following two separate lawsuits filed in federal court.
U.S. District Court Judge William Young ruled that the government broke the law by terminating grants that the administration deemed “DEI.” As WGBH reported, the Trump administration terminated grants in areas of diversity, transgender issues, and other research areas with which it disagreed.
The government appealed Judge Young’s decision to the Supreme Court, which ruled in August that the district court likely overstepped its jurisdiction and lacked authority to review the termination of those research grants. The high court, however, did not stay the ruling that the NIH directives used to terminate the grants were unlawful.
NIH Grants In Legal Limbo
In one lawsuit, at least 16 state attorneys general challenged the federal government over its termination of the grants. The ACLU of Massachusetts, Protecting Democracy, and other plaintiffs, including individual researchers, filed a second federal lawsuit.
While the NIH has restored some funding to terminated grants, other applications have been delayed, denied, or stuck in legal limbo. The agreements this week now commit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to resume its usual process for considering NIH grant applications. The agreements also reportedly limit the NIH from applying disputing ideological directives while reviewing applications for new grants.
“This stipulation means that NIH will be reviewing these applications based on scientific merit and not based on unlawful policy directives that had elevated political ideology over science,” Olga Akselrod, senior counsel at the ACLU’s racial justice program, told WGBH.
According to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, the administration’s funding delays and terminations posed significant harm. Campbell said the University of Massachusetts (UMass) had 353 NIH funding applications under review that were delayed at the time of the lawsuit.
“[This signifies] millions in potential grant funding that would aid in lifesaving medical research,” Campbell wrote. “One such study aimed to investigate a gene that could inform the development of new treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease.”
Despite expensive investments made in preparation for this research, which had an anticipated start date of April 1, 2025, Campbell said UMass had to put the project on hold. The university also scaled back admissions to doctoral programs due to funding uncertainty for critical research.
NIH Director Signals The Consideration For Grants Won’t Last Long
Even with the agreements reached in federal court, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya is signaling that the grant considerations will not last long. During an interview with Paul Thacker, Bhattacharya hinted that some of these grants will eventually be tossed out, Stat News reported.
“As best I can understand the legal aspects of things, that for those grants that were paused … that they forced us to restore… we can’t cut them,” he said. “But when it comes to renewal, those grants no longer meet NIH priorities.”
He made it clear on the podcast that funding for the “DEI grants” will not be renewed throughout the year.
Some of the grants funded Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other illnesses, which impact people of all races and ethnicities.
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