Federal judge extends order blocking ‘devastating’ NIH cap on research payments

by Jennifer Shutt and Shauneen Miranda, Ohio Capital Journal February 21, 2025 WASHINGTON — A federal judge announced Friday she will extend a temporary restraining order that prevents the National Institutes of Health from capping indirect costs paid to research universities and medical schools that receive funding from the federal agency. Kelley, who is overseeing all three lawsuits filed against the NIH for its decision to cap Facilities and Administrative costs at 15%, said she would issue her ruling on a preliminary injunction “as quickly as I can.” Three lawsuits The cases arose in early February after the NIH announced it would no longer pay research universities and medical schools the percentage for indirect costs negotiated in the past. Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, wrote in a statement to the court that “a reduction in the indirect cost rate would be devastating.” During the current fiscal year, the university expects to receive “$118 million in NIH funding for direct costs, while $44.8 million is allocated for indirect costs.” “And over the next five years, Vanderbilt anticipates receiving an average of $137 million from the NIH for annual direct costs,” Raver wrote. “By stimulating the spinal cord, this new approach promises to help stroke sufferers recover control of their arm and hand by strengthening pathways damaged by stroke,” Mayer wrote, later adding that “NIH’s proposal to cut indirect cost rates to 15% would end or seriously jeopardize all of the research projects.” The government’s attorney on Friday requested that if the judge enters a preliminary injunction, she also require the organizations that filed the lawsuits to put up a bond, or financial guarantee.