A federal appeals court ruled on Jan. 5 that the Trump administration cannot reduce the amount of money the National Institutes of Health (NIH) pays grant recipients for indirect costs, such as administration or facility maintenance.
The ruling applies to three lawsuits filed by the attorneys general of Massachusetts and 21 other states, and hospitals, schools, and the associations that represent them.
NIH, which is a subdivision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), published a guidance document in February 2025 to limit how much grant funding could flow to research institutions to cover their indirect costs. These are costs that cannot be directly attributed to an individual research project and include expenses related to funding equipment, facilities, and research staff….
Appeals Court Rules Trump Admin Can’t Cap Overhead Reimbursement Rate for NIH Research Grants
