Trump's effort to stop funding scientific research falls flat before district court, appellate panel rejects stay
Source: Law & Crime
Jul 5th, 2025, 12:06 pm
A federal appellate court on Friday upheld a lower court order directing the Trump administration to restore National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants cut in response to executive orders. In a unanimous order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected a request to stay the nullification order issued by U.S. District Judge William Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, late last month.
While the government waited to fully appeal until the lower court issued a final order earlier in July, the intermediary court made sure not to fault this slightly-delayed motions practice in its ruling.
"This matter is before the court on defendants-appellants' 'Time Sensitive Motion for Stay Pending Appeal and Immediate Administrative Stay,'" the panel explains. "The request for immediate relief is DENIED. We note, though, that defendants-appellants filed their motion the day after the district court had entered a promised memorandum reflecting its legal reasoning, and our denial of immediate relief therefore is not based on the timing of relevant filings."
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump took aim at the NIH grants in question by way of executive orders attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and so-called "gender ideology." The lower court showcased its disdain for both executive orders – and ultimately previewed its two vacatur orders – during a harsh judicial dressing-down in mid-June.
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/forbidding-by-fiat-certain-topics-trumps-effort-to-stop-funding-scientific-research-falls-flat-before-district-court-appellate-panel-rejects-stay-request/
Full headline: 'Forbidding by fiat certain topics': Trump's effort to stop funding scientific research falls flat before district court, appellate panel rejects stay request
Link to ORDER (PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25991786-apha-v-nih-1cca/
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25991786/apha-v-nih-1cca.pdf