A federal judge has ruled that the Trump-era termination of hundreds of diversity-focused scientific research grants was unlawful and discriminatory, ordering the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reinstate the cancelled funding.
A US federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Monday that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) must reinstate hundreds of research grants cut during the Trump administration, describing the terminations as discriminatory and ideologically driven.
The decision, handed down by US District Judge William Young, responded to lawsuits brought by civil society groups, individual researchers, and over a dozen Democratic-led states. The grants in question had supported research in areas such as race, gender identity, and public health equity.
According to the Washington Post, Judge Young—who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan—expressed deep concern over what he described as a level of government-led racial discrimination he had not witnessed in four decades on the bench.
“We are really gratified,” said Shalini Goel Agarwal of Protect Democracy, which represented one group of plaintiffs. She praised the court’s recognition that NIH acted “unlawfully … based on ideological grounds and not based on science.”
The ruling comes in response to the Trump administration’s broader effort to eliminate funding it claimed promoted “ideological agendas.” According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, nearly $3.8 billion in NIH funding was slashed during Trump’s tenure, including about $500 million earmarked for training and professional development—cuts the association called “unprecedented.”
Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said the agency is weighing legal options, including an appeal and a potential motion to pause the ruling. HHS continues to defend the original decision to cut the grants, claiming they lacked scientific rigor.
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One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a fresh attack on Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
Yemen's Houthis renewed warning to airlines, airport workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously and that the kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”, a day after an attack on Riyadh's international airport that killed 12 people.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Monday that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling to accept the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined high school students protesting outside a school in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Tuesday, as a wave of student demonstrations continues across France.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has visited a newly opened defence museum displaying weapons developed under his leadership, including an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers are set to discuss measures to tackle transboundary haze during preparatory meetings ahead of the ASEAN summit in November, as forest and land fires in Indonesia continue to affect air quality across the region, the Philippines said on Tuesday.
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the United Kingdom believes Iran was likely behind an alleged plot connected to RAF Fairford, a military airbase in Gloucestershire in England that has played a role in U.S. operations against Iran, escalating tensions between London and Tehran.
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