A federal judge ordered the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to restore grants the agency terminated for research on gender ideology and diversity, equity, and inclusion, calling the cuts ‘void and illegal.’
U.S. District Judge William Young ruled the agency violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling over $1 billion in research grants.
NEW: Federal judge rules President Trump’s cuts to over $1 billion in NIH diversity research grants “void and illegal.” – Reuters pic.twitter.com/AVJ9NveEY8
— Resist the Mainstream (@ResisttheMS) June 16, 2025
Per Reuters:
Young said he was reinstating grants that had been awarded to organizations and Democratic-led states that sued over the terminations. And the judge indicated that as the case proceeds he could issue a more sweeping decision.
“This represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” said Young, an appointee of Republican former President Ronald Reagan. “Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I’m going to do it.”
Referring to the termination of grants for research related to issues involving racial minorities, the judge said he had in four decades on the bench “never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable.”
US District Judge William Young said the termination of NIH grants for research on diversity-related topics by the Trump administration was ‘void and illegal,’ and accused the government of discriminating against minorities and LGBT people https://t.co/MP7udEBGHO pic.twitter.com/xro0eGI3d8
— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) June 16, 2025
Axios reports:
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up. View the original article here.The NIH cut nearly $3.8 billion in grants to U.S. institutions, with Massachusetts losing more than $1.2 billion, per estimates from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
The second-hardest-hit state, New York, lost $590 million, per AAMC.
Attorneys representing researchers in several states said the funding cuts were “arbitrary” and singled out cuts affecting racial minorities, women and LGBTQ+ people.
Thomas Ports, a Justice Department attorney representing the Trump administration, said some grants have been renewed, while others are not “scientifically valuable.”
But Ports didn’t explain how the Trump administration was defining DEI and the harms they say DEI-related research causes.
ADVERTISEMENTAfter Ports read an NIH statement saying DEI-related studies “are often used to support unlawful discrimination,” Young said, “I see no evidence of that.”
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