Judge blocks Trump admin’s cuts to university research funds after states push back

A federal has judge ruled this week that California and 21 other states will be spared for now from crippling cuts to key funding that universities rely on to conduct scientific research and discovery. The swift action follows a lawsuit that California’s attorney general and others filed earlier today to halt the Trump administration from slashing those funds.

Last Friday the National Institutes of Health issued a memo indicating that it would reduce the “indirect cost rates” that universities receive from the agency to 15%, nearly half the average rate that research campuses currently get. It’s money that doesn’t fund any specific research but instead helps research facilities maintain expensive labs and equipment while also paying for administrative upkeep, support staff and utility costs.

California’s universities are major recipients of research dollars from the National Institutes of Health, including the University of California, which received more than $2 billion for research in 2023-24. The California State University system received $158 million in the most recent audited year, the suit said.