Legalectric

Supreme Court allows Trump to cut $783 million in NIH research grants he targeted for DEI

It is SO wrong, yet, it’s real… Based on several of Trump’s Executive Orders, “going forward, the agency will not fund research related to DEI objectives, gender identity, or COVID–19. Nor will it continue the practice of awarding grants to researchers based on race.”

$783 million in National Institute of Health grants funding research is/was at stake.

Those Executive Orders are bizarre — just the headings reveal the absurdity:

• Exec. Order No. 14151 Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing, 90 Fed. Reg. 8339 (2025);
• Exec. Order No. 14168, DEFENDING WOMEN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY EXTREMISM AND RESTORING BIOLOGICAL TRUTH TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 90 Fed. Reg. 8615 (2025); and
• Exec. Order No. 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, 90 Fed. Reg. 8633 (2025)

Millions in grants were cut. The Supreme Court left those cuts in place, and the cases are going to continue winding their way through the legal system.

The first is the Supreme Court Opinion, followed by a mish-mash of concurrences and dissents. I strongly recommend reading Judge Katanji Jackson’s Dissent.

The language and “reasoning” of the Executive Orders reveals the Project 2025 focus of this administration, and that the Supreme Court regards actions based on those Executive Orders, agency “guidance” based on those Executive Orders, and the resulting withholding of grants is … I run out of words… “Wrong” will do…