A district court in Massachussetts issued a temporary restraining order on Monday barring an effort by the Trump administration to cut billions of dollars in funding for medical research that was already approved.
The order follows a lawsuit from the attorneys general of 22 states against the Trump administration the same day, which argued the cuts will harm medical research and the health of Americans.
The lawsuit, filed by states including California, Michigan and New York, responded to a sudden decision to cut funding by the National Institutes of Health, the government agency that distributed $35 billion in 2024 to researchers and universities.
The Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the NIH, didn't immediately respond to ConsumerAffairs's request for comment.
On Feb. 7, the NIH said it would cut all reimbursements for "indirect costs" by 15% starting on Feb. 10, which is part of Trump's widespread effort to rapidly slash government spending.
"This change will save more than $4B a year effective immediately," the NIH said.
The NIH said that $9 billion of the $35 billion it granted in 2024 to researchers and universities was used for "administrative overhead."
But the California attorney general said these "indirect costs" cover biomedical research, like lab, faculty, infrastructure and utility costs.
"The NIH purported to make this cut effective the very next business day," the California attorney general said, "giving universities and institutions no time to plan for the enormous budget gaps they are now facing."