The Supreme Court has allowed President Trump’s administration to move forward with canceling over $700 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants tied to diversity and inclusion programs, overriding a lower court's injunction.
Zach Schonfeld reports for The Hill.
In short:
- In a 5–4 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court lifted part of a lower court's block on canceling NIH grants that fund diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) research, with Justices Gorsuch, Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Barrett in the majority.
- Chief Justice Roberts joined the liberal justices in dissent, arguing the district court’s ruling was valid and within jurisdiction; Justice Jackson wrote a sharp 21-page dissent calling the decision politically driven.
- The Biden-appointed judge’s earlier ruling had halted the administration’s termination of grants worth $783 million, including projects on transgender health and HIV stigma in Thailand, prompting the Trump administration to appeal to the high court.
Key quote:
“This is Calvinball jurisprudence with a twist. Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules. We seem to have two: that one, and this Administration always wins.”
— Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Why this matters:
Federal grants from agencies like the NIH play a central role in shaping the direction of public health research, funding studies on disease prevention, community health disparities, and marginalized populations. Canceling grants linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts may chill academic inquiry into how race, gender identity, and economic inequality affect health outcomes. The court’s ruling reflects growing political pressure to dismantle programs perceived as ideological, even when tied to science-based research. As health disparities persist and evolve, especially across racial and gender lines, government funding decisions are likely to shape not only which questions get answered, but who benefits from those answers.
Related: Trump administration halts or delays 2,500 NIH grants, disrupting medical research across the U.S.
