AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, issued a statement in response to a ruling by Judge Angel Kelley in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The ruling orders a nationwide preliminary injunction to ensure that the Trump administration’s planned cuts to federal reimbursements of facilities and administrative costs (F&A costs, also known as indirect costs) cannot be implemented throughout any remaining actions in federal court. “The AAMC is heartened that a federal court agreed that critical research funding must continue while the case proceeds,” the statement read.
This ruling was issued in response to three Feb. 10 lawsuits, including one led by the AAMC, which argued that a Feb. 7 notice issued as "supplemental guidance" to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants Policy Statement was unlawful and would result in irreparable harm to the research mission at institutions [refer to Washington Highlights, Feb. 14]. With this preliminary injunction, the federal court’s order prevents the administration from ignoring previously negotiated F&A reimbursement rates for each research institution and implementing a standard 15% rate for many current and all future grants.
- Washington Highlights