Judge Issues Permanent Block on Trump Admin’s Change to NIH Indirect Cost Rate

A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a permanent injunction on April 4 blocking the Trump administration from reducing the amount of money the National Institutes of Health pays grant recipients for indirect costs, such as those for administration or maintenance of facilities. The order solidifies a preliminary injunction U.S. District Judge Angel Kelly issued in March. Her more recent order vacated the NIH’s notice of change to the indirect cost rate. She also entered judgment in favor of various states and organizations on multiple legal claims they brought against the administration. More specifically, she found in favor of the plaintiffs’ claim that the administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by, among other things, not acting in accordance with law and acting in an arbitrary and capricious way....