Appeals court deals new blow to Trump's effort to stop funding scientific research

Source: Law & Crime

Jul 20th, 2025, 4:57 pm


A federal appellate court on Friday refused to stay a judge's order directing the Trump administration to start reinstating National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants that got slashed earlier this year — saying it sees "no obvious error" in the lower court's conclusion that the government's actions "bear all the hallmarks of arbitrary and capricious decision-making."

In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected a government motion to stay a July 2 final order by U.S. District Judge William Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, where he declared that the Trump administration acted "unlawfully" and in "haste to appease the Executive," resulting in a "disruption of grants" that was illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The First Circuit said Friday that the plaintiffs — a coalition of public health organizations led by the American Public Health Association and other advocacy groups — provided "concrete examples" of economic and non-economic harms to themselves, to the public at large, and to the "scientific and medical advancements" of the United States if a stay were granted. Trump's Justice Department, meanwhile, did not dispute the court's "critical findings" that the terminations of hundreds of other grants were "unreasonable," per the appellate court's ruling.

"The Department fails to address any of the non-monetary harms that the plaintiffs detailed, which cannot be remedied by belated payment," the First Circuit said. "Thus, the Department has failed to show that the plaintiffs would not suffer substantial harm if the district court's orders were stayed during the pendency of the litigation."

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