Illinois AG joins lawsuit to stop federal cuts to science, research programs

CHICAGO, Ill. (WCIA) — The Attorneys General of 16 states, including Illinois, are taking the Trump administration to court in an attempt to stop his cuts to National Science Foundation (NSF) programs.

In the lawsuit he and the coalition filed, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is seeking a court order to block the implementation of the NSF’s new directives to eliminate programs addressing diversity in STEM. In addition, the changes would eliminate funding and programs that Raoul said, “help maintain the United States’ position as a global leader in STEM.”

“The funds the Trump administration is attempting to cut are vital to addressing the nation’s biggest challenges,” Raoul said. “The impact of these illegal cuts would devastate scientific research at universities in Illinois and across the country and would stall efforts to grow the STEM workforce.”

Raoul provided background, saying that on April 18, the NFS began terminating grants that funded projects focused on increasing the participation of women, minorities and people with disabilities in STEM fields. On May 2, the NFS announced that it would also cap “indirect costs” of all NFS-funded research projects, such as laboratory space, equipment and facility services, at 15%.

This, Raoul and his counterparts said, would slash millions of dollars from scientific research across the country and jeopardize national security, the economy and public health. The 15% cap would limit scientific research at universities across the country, they said, leading to the abandonment of critical projects and the end of “essential research.”

They also argue that these directives violate federal law.

“The NSF’s directives violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by unlawfully changing NSF policy and ignoring Congress’ direction for how the NSF should function,” Raoul wrote in a news release. “The lawsuit seeks a court order ruling the NSF’s new directives are illegal and an injunction blocking their implementation.”

Raoul also noted that per Congress, a “core strategy” of the NFS’s work must be to increase the participation of people who have historically been left out of STEM occupations, and that the strategy to increase participation STEM careers has worked.

“Between 1995 and 2017, the number of women in science and engineering occupations, or with science or engineering degrees, has doubled,” Raoul wrote. “During that same time, people of color went from 15% to 35% of science and engineering job or degree holders. However, since the NSF’s April 18 directive to terminate programs seeking to increase diversity in STEM, dozens of projects have been canceled.”

Raoul has been involved in several multi-state lawsuits in the past to object to Trump’s policies, including funding cuts. A lawsuit filed in February resulted in court orders that stopped attempts to cap indirect costs for National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Energy (DOE) grants.

The latest lawsuit was filed by Raoul and the Attorneys General of the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.