US judge rejects states’ bid to block Trump diversity research funding cuts

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By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday rejected a bid by 16 Democratic-led states to force U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars of grants it canceled that support increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

Democratic state attorneys general had urged U.S. District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan to block the National Science Foundation from canceling funding awarded to universities designed to increase the participation of women, minorities, and people in those fields, known collectively as STEM.

They had argued in a lawsuit filed in May that the Trump administration lacked the power to cap research funding and eliminate diversity programs provided by the NSF that were mandated by Congress and urged the judge to reverse grant terminations that began in April.

But Cronan, a Trump appointee, agreed with the administration that a challenge to NSF’s already-completed grant terminations could not be pursued in his court but instead could only be taken up by the Court of Federal Claims, a specialist court that hears monetary claims against the U.S. government.

He said the states likewise failed to show a new NSF policy stating that research “must aim to create opportunities for all Americans everywhere” and that research projects that preference “subgroups of people” do not reflect the agency’s priorities was inconsistent with the agency’s governing statute.

The same day that policy was posted in April, NSF began canceling grants that had been previously issued that touched on among other topics of diversity, equity and inclusion. Trump has sought to eliminate DEI from the government and society.

The states said the policy was inconsistent with the National Science Foundation Act’s mandate that the agency award grants “to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in STEM fields.”

But Cronan said NSF’s policy did not require it to cease supporting such projects and that it has in fact continued to fund a number of such projects, including at institutions within the plaintiff states.

“This evidence powerfully undermines Plaintiffs’ argument that the Priority Directive renders this class of projects categorically ineligible for funding,” Cronan wrote.

NSF declined to comment. A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office, which took the lead for the plaintiffs, said it is reviewing the decision.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)