Attorney General Phil Weiser sues Trump administration for defunding medical and public health research

Feb. 10, 2025 (DENVER)—Attorney General Phil Weiser and 21 other attorneys general today sued the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health for unlawfully cutting funds that support groundbreaking medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country.

The coalition is challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut “indirect cost” reimbursements at every research institution throughout the country. These reimbursements cover expenses to facilitate biomedical research, like lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs. Without them, the lifesaving and life-changing medical research in which the United States has long been a leader, could be compromised.

Indirect cost reimbursements are based on each institution’s unique needs, negotiated with the federal government through a carefully regulated process, and then memorialized in an executed agreement. The Trump administration’s is tossing those agreements aside, putting public health and medical advancements at risk. The lawsuit seeks to prevent this reckless and illegal conduct.

“We have world-class medical research in Colorado that has transformed healthcare and improved countless lives. This illegal action cutting NIH funding—taken abruptly, recklessly, without reflecting on its painful impact, and with no justification for a dramatic change—will harm Colorado universities, undermine important research efforts, and damage our economy. Government agencies are required to act fairly and reasonably, ensuring that affected parties have notice of potentially dramatic changes and an opportunity to be heard,” Weiser said.

The NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the United States. Medical research funding by NIH grants have led to innumerable scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types, the first sequencing of DNA and the development of the MRI.

Most NIH-funding research occurs outside of federal government institutions at public and private universities and colleges. In Colorado, for example, this includes $203.3 million for Colorado State University, $360 million at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and $77.9 million at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Trump administration’s cuts would eliminate a total of nearly $90 million in NIH funding across the three campuses.

On Friday, February 7, the NIH announced it would abruptly slash indirect cost rates to an across-the-board 15% rate, which is significantly less than the cost required to perform cutting edge medical research. The NIH purported to make this cut effective the very next business day, Monday, February 10 giving universities and institutions no time to plan for the enormous budget gaps they are now facing. Without immediate relief, this action could result in the suspension of lifesaving and life-extending clinical trials, disruption of research programs, layoffs, and laboratory closures.

The coalition argues that this action violates the Administrative Procedure Act, including a directive Congress passed during President Trump’s first term to fend off his earlier proposal to drastically cut research reimbursements. That statutory language, still in effect, prohibits the NIH from requiring categorial and indiscriminate changes to indirect cost reimbursements.

Also joining this coalition are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

NIH lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts (PDF download).

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Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office | (720) 245-4689 cell
lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov