National Institutes Of Health Terminates Some Research Grants Amid Political And Policy Shift

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun cutting funding for active scientific projects.

What Happened: The NIH is terminating research grants deemed inconsistent with agency priorities. The decision targets studies on transgender populations and gender identity as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Grants linked to environmental justice, climate change and Chinese universities are also impacted.

On Wednesday, a federal court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the NIH following its abrupt decision to slash and cap indirect cost rates on biomedical research grants.

The ruling prevents implementing the policy change, which would affect billions of dollars in funding and disrupt ongoing research and clinical trials.

Internal NIH documents and an audio recording obtained by Nature.com reveal that agency staff have been directed to review and potentially cancel such grants.

Nature reported that at least 16 termination letters have already been issued, and hundreds more are expected. Two NIH officials confirmed the scale of the effort.

The terminations align with directives from President Donald Trump's administration, which, in its early months, has sought to reshape federal research funding.

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Why It Matters: Partially DEI-related research may only continue if those elements are removed. Projects that merely reference DEI language will be allowed to proceed, but only if such language is stripped from grant applications and reports.

The Trump administration's actions against NIH grants come amid broader efforts to curtail DEI initiatives. In January, the Office of Management and Budget attempted to freeze all federal grants and loans to align with Trump's executive orders targeting DEI programs.

The report highlights that the agency risks failing to allocate its budget before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 by halting new grants and cutting existing funding. Such an impoundment of funds would be illegal under congressional budget rules.

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