NEW YORK (AP) — The National Science Foundation can continue to curb hundreds of millions of dollars from researchers in several states. It ruled on Friday until the lawsuit was intended to revive.
New York US District Judge John Cronin refused to immediately resume NSF payments while the lawsuits are still being decided, in response to requests from 16 Democratic-led states that filed lawsuits, including New York, Hawaii, California, Colorado and Connecticut.
In his ruling, Cronan said he would not partially grant the interim injunction, as another court, the federal claims court, could have jurisdiction over cases that are essentially about money. He also said the state failed to show that the NSF action was against the agency’s duties.
The lawsuit filed in May alleges that the priorities of the National Science Foundation’s new grants and the caps of what is known as indirect research costs “will violate the law and endanger America’s longstanding global leadership in STEM.”
Another district court had already blocked the indirect cost cap. This is an administrative fee that allows research to be carried out, such as paying and maintaining support staff. The injunction was required to restore funding for reduced grants.
In April, NSF announced new priorities and began xxing hundreds of grants for research focusing on misinformation and diversity, equity, inclusion and more. The unfunded researchers were also studying artificial intelligence, post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans, and STEM education for K-12 students.
Colleen Faherty, a lawyer representing New York, said at a hearing last month that researchers were not given a specific explanation as to why their grant was cancelled. Instead, they received a boilerplate language, which stated that their work “no longer affects program goals or agency priorities.”
The NSF has long been instructed by Congress to encourage underrepresented groups such as women and people with disabilities to participate in STEM. According to the lawsuit, the Science Foundation’s funding cuts have already halted efforts to train the next generation of scientists in fields such as computer science, mathematics and environmental science.
Attorneys for the NSF said at the hearing that the agency has the authority to fund any research that appears to be necessary, and in court filings since its establishment in 1950, the government argued that “every American, at the expense of all Americans, will not exclude individuals or groups who do not like or directly/exclude some groups at the expense of others.”
NSF attorney Adam Gitlin said at the hearing that the plaintiffs’ state “will try to substitute their own judgment for the agency’s judgment.”
The Science Foundation is still funding several projects related to expanding expression in STEM, Cronan writes in his ruling. For example, according to a lawsuit filed in May, Northern Colorado University lost funding for just one of nine programs that focused on increasing participation of underrated groups in the STEM field.
The state is reviewing the decision, according to a spokesperson for the Attorney General of New York and Hawaii. The National Science Foundation declined to comment.
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