OAKLAND, CA – California Attorney General Rob Bonta applauded last week’s preliminary injunction by the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts blocking the Trump Administration’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding cuts from taking effect, according to the California Department of Justice.
The injunction remains in place nationwide until further order by the court, preventing what Bonta described as an attempt to undermine life-saving medical research, the DOJ reported.
Bonta said the court’s decision follows a temporary restraining order secured last month by a coalition of attorneys general.
“Now, we have secured a preliminary injunction that continues barring the Trump Administration from implementing the NIH funding cuts,” said Bonta, noting the court’s order indicates a high likelihood that the coalition will succeed in proving its claims against the administration’s actions, said the DOJ in a statement.
The case concerns NIH’s role as the primary federal funding source for medical research, providing more than $35 billion in grants in 2023 to support more than 300,000 researchers across public and private institutions, according to the court order.
The administration’s proposed cuts aimed to impose a uniform 15 percent indirect cost cap on NIH grants, a move plaintiffs argue violates federal law and existing grant agreements, the court order stated.
The court determined that blocking the cuts was necessary to prevent “irreparable harm” to ongoing medical research, clinical trials, and patient care, the court order reported.
The ruling also noted that the plaintiffs have a strong case, citing “a likelihood of success on the merits,” the court order stated.
The injunction follows legal challenges against the administration’s efforts to overhaul NIH funding, and the court found proposed cuts would have significantly impacted ongoing research and existing grants, the court order stated.
Bonta reaffirmed the coalition’s commitment to protecting public health and scientific research from what he characterized as politically motivated attacks, insisting, “We will not allow President Trump to play politics with our public health or to break the law.”
