Hawaii AG helps secure national injunction on NIH funding cuts

BOSTON >> A federal judge today has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from implementing sweeping cuts to National Institutes of Health research funding, a decision Hawaii officials say will help protect critical medical and public health research in the state.

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston issued a nationwide injunction at the request of 22 Democratic state attorneys general, medical associations and universities that argue the National Institutes of Health’s planned funding cuts were unlawful.

Kelley, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, noted that the policy affects thousands of existing grants, totaling billions of dollars across all 50 states, calling it “a unilateral change over a weekend, without regard for on-going research and clinical trials.”

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, who joined the lawsuit, praised the ruling. “As the court confirmed, the Trump administration’s attempt to cut lifesaving, essential scientific and medical research funding for public health institutions was as illegal as it was arbitrary,” Lopez said in a statement. “Once again, the courts are sending a clear message that President Trump’s efforts to paralyze the government through arbitrary funding cuts are illegal. The people of Hawaii rightfully expect that the federal administration will act lawfully, and my department will work to protect the interests of this state.”

The proposed NIH cuts were part of President Donald Trump’s broader efforts to reduce federal spending and restructure government agencies. The administration planned to lower the reimbursement rate for research institutions’ indirect costs — expenses such as lab space, faculty salaries, and equipment — from an average of about 27% to a 15% cap, a move officials said would save the government $4 billion annually. However, Judge Kelley ruled that the change violated language in congressional funding legislation that was specifically designed to prevent sweeping reductions.

University of Hawaii Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis Syrmos warned that the cuts would have had devastating effects on research programs and graduate students in the state. “NIH’s proposed drastic reduction of our facilities and administrative rate would result in the elimination of approximately $16.5 million in funding that the University of Hawaii uses to support its research programs and graduate students, including debt service payments for facilities that support translational research and clinical trials,” Syrmos said.

“As our state’s only medical school, JABSOM is required to do research that benefits our population,” Syrmos said. “The level and quality of research cannot be sustained with the proposed cuts. The negative impact on communities in Hawaii and elsewhere that already experience the highest rates of chronic disease, more severe health conditions, and shortened life expectancies, will be severe.”

Hawaii’s legal team, including Special Assistant to the Attorney General Dave Day and Solicitor General Kalikoʻonālani Fernandes, emphasized the importance of defending the state’s interests against unlawful federal actions.

“We are very pleased with this decision,” Fernandes said. “The relief obtained in this case for the University of Hawai‘i underscores the importance of standing up for the rule of law and the interests of Hawai‘i.”

The injunction prevents the Trump administration and the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing the funding reductions while litigation continues. The administration is expected to appeal the ruling. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, declined to comment.