US judge rules Trump's cuts to NIH funding illegal

U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump attend a military parade in Washington, D.C., the United States, June 14, 2025. U.S. [Photo/Xinhua]

A federal judge in U.S. city of Boston ruled on Monday that the Trump's administration's decision to terminate funding for diversity-related research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was illegal, accusing the administration of discriminating against minority groups.

The NIH canceled more than one billion U.S. dollars in research funding because it was deemed related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. U.S. District Judge William Young said in a non-jury trial that the move has violated federal law and is "void and illegal."

Young, a federal judge nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, said he would restore funding to organizations and Democratic-led states that had filed lawsuits over the terminations.

Young criticized the cancellation of funding for minority-related research, saying, "I've never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable."

"Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I'm going to do it," Young said.

The NIH is the world's largest publicly funded biomedical research organization, awarding approximately 60,000 grants to nearly 3,000 universities and hospitals each year. It has been a key target for funding cuts and federal spending reductions under the Trump administration.

Since Donald Trump took office in his second term as president in January, the NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling approximately 9.5 billion U.S. dollars and an additional 2.6 billion U.S. dollars in contracts, according to media reports.