New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin has joined 21 other attorneys general to sue the Trump administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health over funding for cutting-edge medical and public health research.
The group is suing over the Trump administration’s attempts to cut “indirect cost” reimbursements at research institutions, covering biomedical research, labs, faculty and infrastructure.
Most NIH-funded research occurs outside of federal government institutions at public and private universities and colleges. In New Jersey, this includes Rutgers University, Rowan University, The College of New Jersey, Kean University, Montclair State University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Ramapo College, Stockton University, Princeton University, The Stevens Institute of Technology, Seton Hall University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.
“The Trump Administration’s attack on public health research funding is a direct attack on our State, which has long led the nation in medical and health innovations that have saved countless lives across our country,” Platkin said.
Defunding would have a “destabilizing financial impact” on its medical research, according to Rutgers, with effectively a $22 million cut in the university’s annual budget.
“Our universities, labs, and research institutions have fought COVID-19, cancer, and many more issues of public interest, but now they have to fight the cruelty and shortsightedness of President Trump and his political appointees,” said Platkin.
Platkin and the other attorneys general argue the funding is part of an executive agreement the Trump administration is now trying to illegally scrap. The coalition argues this violates the Administrative Procedure Act, including a directive Congress passed during President Trump’s first term to fend off his earlier proposal to drastically cut research reimbursements. The group is asking for an immediate court order to block the administration from implementing the cuts.
“We will fight this reckless and illegal action in court until this critical funding is restored,” said Platkin.
