‘Unlawful’: IL AG issues joint statement ahead of block on Trump admin’s medical research funding cuts

CHICAGO, Ill. (WCIA) — Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined 15 attorneys general in a statement ahead of a court hearing Friday, in which the judge extended the temporary block to cuts in National Institutes of Health research funding.

Raoul joined the attorneys general in a joint statement on the lawsuit to preserve funding for medical and public health innovation research. Friday afternoon, AP News reported that a federal judge once again blocked the Trump administration’s cuts in medical research funding, which scientists said would endanger patients and delay new lifesaving studies.

At the hearing in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health, the plaintiffs were successful in seeking an extension of its Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Trump administration’s cuts to funds that are used to support cutting-edge medical and public health research at colleges and other institutions across the United States.

Additionally, according to AP News, the new National Institute of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover indirect expenses of studying cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and many other illnesses. Separate lawsuits filed by a group of 22 states and organizations representing colleges, hospitals and other institutions across the country sued to stop the cuts.

“The Trump administration’s attempt to cut research funding at thousands of research institutions across the country is not only unlawful; it undermines public health, our economy and our competitiveness,” Raoul said. “There are laws in place that protect this funding, and the president cannot simply toss those laws aside.”

Raoul co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and the NIG in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts on Feb. 10. The lawsuit challenged the administration’s plan to cut “indirect cost” reimbursements at every research institution across the country.

Less than six hours after that lawsuit was filed, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley issued a TRO against the NIH, preventing it from cutting billions of dollars in funding for biomedical and public health research. During the hearing in Boston on Friday, Kelley extended the block until she rules on an injunction, which is a more permanent decision.