Today, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford and a coalition of 16 attorneys general issued a joint statement prior to a court hearing in the case Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health. The plaintiffs are seeking an extension of a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration’s cuts to funds for medical and public health research at universities and institutions nationwide.
Attorney General Ford is joined by his counterparts from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. They collectively stated: “The Trump Administration’s attempt to cut research funding at thousands of research institutions across the country is not only unlawful; it undermines public health, our economy and our competitiveness.”
The statement highlights that this funding supports essential components of biomedical research such as lab costs and infrastructure. Without it, critical research efforts including clinical trials could be compromised. These cuts would impact universities engaged in groundbreaking research while also training future researchers.
“Attorneys general are not just fighting for the rule of law; we are fighting for our loved ones,” they emphasized. The Court had previously recognized these impacts and granted an emergency temporary restraining order preventing the implementation of these cuts.
On February 10th, AG Ford joined a coalition in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s attempt to cut “indirect cost” reimbursements at research institutions nationwide. Shortly after filing this lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, the Court issued a temporary restraining order barring NIH from cutting billions in funding.
This includes approximately $50 million designated for Nevada’s UNR, UNLV and NSU campuses for opioid overdose prevention among other projects. A UNR professor noted that halting this funding could endanger lives.
Joining AG Ford were attorneys general from several states including Massachusetts (co-leader), Illinois (co-leader) and Michigan (co-leader), along with others from across the nation.
