The Trump administration scored a major legal victory Thursday as the Supreme Court cleared the way to slash more than $783 million in National Institutes of Health grants tied to diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives and LGBT studies.
The 5-4 order overturns lower court rulings that had blocked the cuts, allowing the NIH to terminate existing grants while leaving a partial block on issuing new directives.
The move represents a win for Trump’s broader push to roll back DEI programs across the federal government.
The Justice Department argued that keeping the injunction in place “forces NIH to continue funding projects inconsistent with agency priorities” and “intrudes on NIH’s core discretion to decide how best to allocate limited research funds.”
Opponents framed the cuts as purely ideological, as Fox News reported.
The American Public Health Association warned that halting the grants would “devastate biomedical research across the country, disrupting clinical trials and delaying urgently needed discoveries” and said the administration provided “no scientific basis for these cancellations — only ideology.”
A coalition of Democrat-led states, spearheaded by Massachusetts, argued that patients could become “collateral damage” in the political fight. Researchers echoed concerns, warning that the cuts could discourage studies on politically sensitive topics and risk slowing progress on critical diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.
The Supreme Court’s ruling overturns a June decision from U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley of Massachusetts, who had called the administration’s actions “arbitrary and capricious” and criticized the NIH for failing to provide a reasoned explanation for midstream grant cancellations.
The 1st Circuit upheld Kelley’s injunction in July, prompting Trump’s emergency appeal to the high court.
News outlets highlighted the stakes of Thursday’s decision.
The Associated Press described it as allowing Trump to cut $783 million in research funding “in an anti-DEI push.” Reuters reported that the Supreme Court cleared the way for the administration to cut diversity-related NIH grants while partially blocking new restrictions.
Federal research groups expressed concern over the fallout. The Association of American Universities said the ruling could “chill scientific inquiry” by discouraging researchers from tackling politically sensitive subjects. Scientists cautioned that halting grants could slow the fight against major health crises.
Despite warnings from experts, the decision is a political win for Trump. The administration has consistently targeted DEI initiatives across federal agencies, framing them as unnecessary or ideologically driven.
The Supreme Court’s ruling signals that the president has broad authority to control how federal funds are allocated, even amid legal pushback.
The legal battle is not necessarily over. Challenges in the 1st Circuit could return to the Supreme Court, leaving the long-term fate of the grants uncertain. For now, Trump has cleared a major hurdle in his fight against what he views as government-sponsored ideological overreach.
The ruling underscores the high stakes of federal grant funding. Critics argue that funding decisions based on ideology could harm research priorities, while Trump and allies insist they are enforcing accountability and prioritizing core government missions over politically motivated projects.
