The ACLU sued the NIH on suspicion of research grants related to DEI, gender identity, Covid-19 and other politically sensitive topics.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a massive federal lawsuit accusing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of illegally canceling research grants due to political and ideological pressures, along with a coalition of public health groups, unions and researchers.
The lawsuit targets NIH and its new director, Jay Bhattacharya, and includes the Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Plaintiffs, including individual researchers from institutions such as the American Public Health Association, United Autoworker Academic Workers Union and Harvard University, allege that NIH staff were directed to eliminate research on “adverse topics and populations,” but no explanations on the directive’s scientific basis or legal authority were provided.
The lawsuit accused the NIH of removing fundraising opportunities from its website, halting mid-stream applications and canceling awards already in progress. In total, at least 678 projects and billions of taxpayer-funded research have been wiped out. This includes vaccine intake, HIV prevention in transgender-identifying populations, and subsidies to diversify the biomedical workforce in response to complaints.
The ACLU argues that the termination of these studies poses critical medical breakthroughs that are essential to advance the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of life-threatening diseases.
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Cancelled grants also have demonstrable economic consequences, plaintiffs argue.
“For example, over 30% of NIH-funded studies were later cited in commercial patent applications, indicating the important role project-based grants play in fostering innovation,” their complaint states.
The ACLU lawsuit alleged that the NIH was violated by the Administrative Procedure Act, failing to comply with grant termination rules and standards, exceeding legal authority and relying on ambiguous standards such as gender identity and DEI, resulting in violating the due process protection of the 5th amendment terms. The lawsuit attempts to revive the cancelled grant and block NIH from filtering research grant awards based on ideology.
Requests for comments sent to NIH and HHS were not immediately returned.
Critics view Day’s initiative as a form of discrimination based on government-supported identity that undermines meritocracy, but Day’s supporters say such policies will ensure inclusiveness, reduce discrimination and ensure greater representation of historically marginalized groups.
The Trump administration has also launched a government-wide effort to keep government spending at $36 trillion amid the debt crisis.
The ACLU lawsuit is part of a broader effort under the Trump administration over recent NIH policy changes.
