The Supreme Court handed Trump another major legal victory this week, clearing the path for his administration to slash hundreds of millions in scientific research funding tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
In a narrow 5-4 ruling, the Court lifted a lower judge’s order that had blocked $783 million worth of cuts at the National Institutes of Health. That means Trump officials can now cancel ongoing grants they argue promote DEI agendas.
Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Court’s three liberal justices in trying to stop the cuts, but it wasn’t enough. Justice Amy Coney Barrett cast a pivotal vote to keep Trump’s broader anti-DEI directive frozen for future projects, so the administration can’t expand the cuts beyond existing grants — at least for now.
The case centers on a larger $12 billion pool of NIH research projects targeted by the administration. Sixteen Democratic attorneys general and several public health groups sued, arguing that defunding projects midway not only wastes data already collected but also derails careers and slows down breakthroughs in medicine.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson penned a blistering dissent, warning that the Court’s handling of Trump’s emergency appeals basically guarantees him wins. Comparing the Court’s moves to “Calvinball,” the anything-goes game from the Calvin and Hobbes comics, she accused her colleagues of rewriting rules in Trump’s favor.
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team insists the funding cuts are within his authority and argue that DEI initiatives disguise racial discrimination. Solicitor General D. John Sauer even pushed for dozens of other cases blocking Trump’s funding rollbacks to be thrown out, with Justice Neil Gorsuch criticizing lower courts for standing in the way.
For now, the ruling means hundreds of research programs across the country — many focused on public health and medical science — are on the chopping block.
