PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes and 21 other attorneys general today sued the Trump Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for unlawfully cutting funds that support cutting-edge 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 purports to toss those agreements aside, putting public health and medical advancements at risk. The coalition’s lawsuit seeks to prevent that reckless and illegal conduct.
“Arizona students and universities will miss out on millions of dollars in critical funding and research support if the Trump administration is not blocked from defunding NIH and its grants to our state,” said Attorney General Mayes “This money is owed to Arizonans by law. Beyond the students and institutions negatively impacted now, this will have disastrous and exponential consequences for innovation and progress, curbing our ability to combat disease and protect Americans for generations to come.”
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, that prohibits the NIH from requiring categorial and indiscriminate changes to indirect cost reimbursements. The coalition is seeking a court order barring the Trump Administration and NIH from implementing the action.
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. Additionally, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes for their groundbreaking scientific work.
Most NIH-funding research occurs outside of federal government institutions such as both public and private universities and colleges.
In Arizona, the University of Arizona had over $170 million in NIH funding in federal fiscal year 2024. ASU’s Tempe Campus was awarded over $65 million in NIH funding in federal fiscal year 2024. NAU had almost $14 million in NIH funding in that same year. All of them would see their funding reduced under the new 15% rule. Private hospitals would also be impacted: Banner received $26 million, Mayo Clinic received $17 million, and St. Joseph’s received $10 million. They too would see their funding cut. The total impact to Arizona medical institutions would be well over $20 million. Last week, students at ASU gathered to protest these funding freezes and their severe consequences.
This lawsuit is being co-led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan. Joining this coalition are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
The lawsuit was filed today in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts and can be found here.