Twenty-two states sued the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to challenge federal funding cuts to facilities, equipment, personnel, and other indirect costs associated with medical and public health research. On February 7, 2025, NIH issued Notice Number NOT-OD-25-068 and announced it would immediately cut funding for indirect costs to an across-the-board rate of 15%. The plaintiffs in this case argue that NIH violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the NIH Notice is arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law, and because NIH acted outside the agency's authority and without observance of the procedure required by law. The plaintiffs requested that the court find Notice Number NOT-OD-25-068 unlawful and issue a permanent injunction preventing it from being enforced.
