Judge William Young of the District of Massachusetts ruled that the program cuts were discriminatory on racial, gender, and sexual orientation grounds. His ruling requires nearly $3.8 billion across 367 grants to be restored to U.S. institutions, Axios reported.
“I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable,” Young said. “I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.”
Attorneys representing the researcher plaintiffs argued that the selection of grants to be cut was “arbitrary” and disproportionately affected racial minorities, women, and LGBT people.
After an attorney representing the Justice Department read out an NIH statement arguing DEI policies “are often used to support unlawful discrimination,” Young shot down the suggestion.
“I see no evidence of that,” he said. “From what I can see, it’s the reverse, but point it [the evidence] out to me.”
Young concluded by acknowledging that he did not have the authority to act beyond the evidence presented in the case, so his ruling would not apply to cuts beyond the individual lawsuit against the NIH. He then claimed that the government was trying to discriminate against minorities.
NIH DIRECTOR GRILLED BY BOTH PARTIES FOR PROPOSED RESEARCH BUDGET CUTS
“Have we fallen so low?” he said. “Have we no shame?”
The ruling marks yet another blistering legal defeat for the Trump administration, which has found its ambitious plans to rework the government hounded at every step by legal challenges, usually from activist groups.
