STAT+: Federal judge extends restraining order on Trump administration’s cap on NIH indirect costs
Judge Angel Kelley kept in place an order blocking the Trump administration from implementing a 15% cap on NIH indirect cost payments
BOSTON — After two hours of arguments from the Trump administration and three sets of plaintiffs, a federal judge on Friday kept in place an order blocking the Trump administration from implementing a cap on how much indirect costs the National Institutes of Health pays grant recipients.
The temporary restraining order was set to expire on Monday, and has been extended until U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley can make a final decision on whether to issue an injunction on the proposed change.
If the proposed 15% cap on indirect costs were to move forward, it could affect $4 billion or more in research funding for universities and other biomedical research institutions. The new funding policy was announced Friday evening Feb. 7 and slated to go into effect the following Monday. But three lawsuits were filed over that weekend — which culminated in Kelley issuing a nationwide restraining order on the policy change.
