On Monday, attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over the president’s plan to freeze research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
As Axios reports, all of the 22 attorneys general are Democrats, hailing from states such as California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and North Carolina. The proposed funding freeze could result in layoffs and the closing of research laboratories amidst a government review of grants and other forms of funding.
“The administration’s decision to cap NIH reimbursement rates could force scientists to shutter their lifesaving research on cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, addiction, infectious diseases, and more,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James (D-N.Y.).
The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s current freeze is unconstitutional due to there not being a sufficient explanation of the basic reasons for the suspension. They also claim that the decision is in violation of a 2018 law that forbids the federal government from interfering with NIH reimbursement of biomedical research.
On Friday, the NIH announced that it would be lowering the indirect cost rate received by grantees to 15% or less. A post on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, claimed that of the $35 billion that the NIH awarded in Fiscal Year 2023, at least $9 billion was spent strictly on overhead and administration costs instead of actual research.
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