by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Remember that edict by the Trump administration capping the indirect costs portion of grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at 15 percent? There was vigorous discussion of that announcement on this blog, with many commentators supporting the move.

Well, the Trump administration has given up on that effort.

As soon as the new policy was announced, several state attorney generals challenged it in court. A federal district court issued an injunction prohibiting the implementation of that cap. In January, a federal circuit court of appeals agreed with the district court. In its opinion, the appeals court pointed out that the action by the administration violated regulations  of the Dept. of Health and Human Services. It also was in direct violation of a Supplemental Rider to the Appropriation Act that Congress had first passed in 2018, during the first Trump administration, and had adopted in each appropriation act since. The appeals court concluded, “In summary, Congress went to great lengths to ensure that NIH could not displace negotiated indirect cost reimbursement rates with a uniform rate.”

The deadline for the administration to appeal the decision of the appeals court to the U.S. Supreme Court recently passed without action or comment by the administration.

This is good news for Virginia institutions of higher education. The three large research institutions — the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Tech — have the greatest stake in this funding stream, but other colleges and universities also receive NIH grants.

The administration has switched to other means in its attempt to cut NIH grants. It included a 40 percent cut in NIH’s grant appropriation in its proposed budget for the current year. Congress rejected it. It has proposed a 10 percent cut in its 2027 budget proposal, but the prospects that Congress will go along with even that cut are dim.