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The Department of Justice (DOJ) urged the Supreme Court on July 24 to allow the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to move forward with the cancellation of research grants linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
In an emergency application filed with the court, the DOJ asked the justices to block a June ruling by Boston-based District Court Judge William Young, which found the cancellation was unlawful and ordered the government to restore the funding.
“The district court’s order directs the NIH to continue paying $783 million in federal grants that are undisputedly counter to the Administration’s priorities,” the DOJ wrote in the filing.
“Following the change in Administration, the NIH identified, explained, and pursued new funding priorities. That is democracy at work, not, as the district court thought, proof of inappropriate ‘partisan[ship]’—let alone a permissible basis for setting agency action aside.”
The NIH is the world’s largest government funder of biomedical research.
The emergency application stems from two lawsuits challenging the cuts to grants involving DEI, “transgender issues,” and “vaccine hesitancy,” and other issues.
