Press Release  AG Campbell Secures Agreement With Trump Administration Preventing Further Delays In Medical And Public Health Research

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell secured a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) providing that HHS will resume the review process for critical medical and public health research grants issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that have been unlawfully delayed by the Trump Administration. The agreement resolves claims made in a lawsuit led by AG Campbell and a coalition of 16 attorneys general in April, challenging the Administration’s unreasonable and intentional delays in reviewing NIH grant applications.  

“When the Trump Administration unlawfully stalled the review process for NIH grant applications, lifesaving studies related to Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and other devastating illnesses were frozen indefinitely – stealing hope from countless families across the country and putting lives at risk,” said AG Campbell. “This agreement ensures that critical medical research projects are able to continue, paving the way for lifesaving medical advancements, driving job creation, and fostering academic competitiveness at Massachusetts’s world class research institutions.” 

NIH grant applications typically undergo several rounds of rigorous review by subject-matter experts and agency officials who assess each proposal’s scientific merit in light of funding availability and agency priorities. Earlier this year, the Administration took the unprecedented step of cancelling upcoming meetings for the agency’s review panels and delaying the scheduling of future meetings. The Administration also indefinitely withheld issuing final decisions on applications that had already received approval from the relevant review panels, leaving the plaintiff states awaiting decisions on billions of dollars in requested research funding. 

As a result of the Administration’s delays and terminations, the states alleged that their public research institutions experienced significant harm. For example, the University of Massachusetts (UMass), at the time the lawsuit was filed, had 353 applications for NIH funding whose review had been delayed, signifying millions in potential grant funding that would aid in lifesaving medical research. One such study aimed to investigate a gene that could inform the development of new treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease. Despite expensive investments made in preparation for this research, which had an anticipated start date of April 1, 2025, UMass had to put the project on hold due to the NIH delaying its advisory council review meeting. Due to the uncertainty of funding for multiple projects, UMass Amherst reduced its Fall 2025 graduate admissions for doctoral programs from 997 admittees to 712, rescinding financial awards to many of those admitted. 

This settlement agreement commits HHS to resuming the usual process for considering NIH grant applications on a prompt, agreed-upon timeline. The agreement complements the coalition’s victory in an earlier phase of the lawsuit, in which the plaintiff states challenged unlawful directives that targeted NIH projects based on their perceived connection to “DEI,” “transgender issues,” “vaccine hesitancy,” and other topics disfavored by the Trump Administration. The District Court found for the plaintiff states and set aside the unlawful directives; a hearing on the federal government’s appeal of that decision is scheduled for January 6, 2026. The current settlement agreement limits NIH from applying the unlawful directives while reviewing applications for new grants. 

Joining AG Campbell in reaching this settlement are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai'i, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.   

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