Trump admin asks SCOTUS to permit NIH's cuts to DEI health grants

The Justice Department (DOJ) on Thursday filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court, asking it to lift a lower court's block on the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) decisions to cancel health grants related to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

The NIH began canceling grants in March that it claimed were spent on projects like studies on transgender healthcare, vaccine hesitancy, and diversity research, arguing the grants no longer aligned with the agency's priorities under President Donald Trump. However, U.S. District Judge William Young ruled last month that the NIH's decisions violated the Constitution.

The DOJ asked the court for an emergency stay on the order, which would allow the cancellations to resume while the appeals process plays out, according to The Hill. 

“The district court’s order directs the NIH to continue paying $783 million in federal grants that are undisputedly counter to the Administration’s priorities,” federal attorneys wrote in the filing. “Following the change in Administration, the NIH identified, explained, and pursued new funding priorities."

"That is democracy at work, not, as the district court thought, proof of inappropriate ‘partisan[ship]’ let alone a permissible basis for setting agency action aside," the lawyers added.

The move marks the administration's latest request for the Supreme Court to wade into its legal battles. The administration has also asked the court to let it continue its plan for massive layoffs at federal agencies, and to allow it to gut the Department of Education.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.