- A group of 16 Democratic AGs, led by Massachusetts AG Andrea Joy Campbell, filed a lawsuit alleging that the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) delays in the review and approval of grant applications and terminations of issued grants are unconstitutional and violate the Administrative Procedure Act.
- The complaint alleges that since January 2025, the NIH has cancelled upcoming meetings assessing grant proposals and delayed scheduling future meetings; indefinitely withheld issuing final decisions on grant applications; and terminated already-issued grants for projects that are currently underway. The complaint further alleges that these actions have caused and will continue to cause irreparable harm to the states and their public research institutions.
- The AGs seek declaratory and injunctive relief requiring the NIH to promptly undertake its review of and determinations regarding pending grant applications and barring it from carrying out the funding withdrawals and grant terminations.
- We previously reported on a preliminary injunction obtained by a group of Democratic AGs blocking the implementation of supplemental guidance that would have capped indirect cost rates for NIH grants at 15 percent and limit funding for research institutions’ operational, administrative, and overhead expenses.