Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory Science Newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more.
CNN
–
The US state, which is primarily managed by Democrats by 16 attorney generals, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday, claiming that some of the federal government’s attempts to hamper the National Science Foundation’s research program were illegal.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court Wednesday afternoon, asks judges to suspend research spending to NSF policy, which has suspended millions of dollars worth of research.
The move came after the NSF announced in April that it abolished hundreds of grants (mainly related to research on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility (DEIA) and misinformation). So far, cancellations have been rising since then, affecting a total of 1,753 grants worth around $1.4 billion in a number of research areas so far, according to NSF data.
Neither the National Science Foundation nor the White House responded to requests for comment.
The agency also announced a new policy in May that would increase the amount researchers could spend on “indirect costs.” This includes 15% operating costs, including laboratory, safety programs and equipment use. (CAP is currently pending until June 13th.
The Attorney General argues that such policies “will endanger national security, the economy and public health and “salvage millions of dollars for groundbreaking scientific research across the country,” according to a news release from Letia James, who is in tandem with Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez.
The coalition lawsuit also argues that the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down research related to diversity is illegal. According to a news release from James’ office, NSF says “Congress is mandating to improve diversity in the STEM field.” “Congress has directed in law that the ‘core strategy’ of the NSF’s work must be to increase participation of those who have historically been excluded from the STEM occupation. ”
Federal law says the National Science Foundation should work to increase “women and individual participation from underrepresented groups in STEM.”
The new lawsuit argues that the recent NSF directive “violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution” by changing the NSF policy illegally and disregarding Congress’ intentions about how the NSF works, according to a news release. “The lawsuit requires that court orders awarding the NSF’s new policies are illegal and prevent them from being implemented.”
The National Science Foundation is a $9 billion institution responsible for advancing discovery across the scientific spectrum, primarily by assessing the scientific merits of grant requests and spending it primarily on universities and other research institutions.
Agency staff have been asked to comply with the funding request in order to comply with Trump’s executive order that attempted to dismantle DEIA-related activities and the “free speech” directive that argues that efforts to combat misinformation can be used to “infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of American citizens across the United States.”
Many researchers, stakeholders and agencies working with the NSF have condemned the new policy.
For example, the Federation of Associations of Behavior and Brain Sciences in an April 24 statement said that the Trump administration’s direction is “washing precious time and resources in the middle of a political tug of war.”
Former NSF director Seturaman Panchanathan, who was tapped to lead the agency during Trump’s first term, also resigned in late April.
“I think they feel they feel that it’s time to advance the agency’s important mission and hand the baton over to new leadership,” Panchanasan said on April 24 in a farewell statement provided to CNN by an agency spokesman.
The White House has proposed to wipe out NSF’s 55% budget cuts, and agents could face layoffs of wipeouts.
The state coalition calling for the Trump administration over changes to the NSF includes New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Washington.
The lawsuit reflects another filed May 5th with 19 states and Washington, D.C. against the Trump administration as it allegedly “gets a wrecking ball with the Department of Health and Human Services.”
In late March, the Trump administration announced plans to cut discretionary federal health costs and transform several health agencies. The restructuring plan involves integrating 28 HHS institutions into 15 new divisions, including the healthy American administration.
The lawsuit over the HHS change argues that the effects of the restructuring are already harmful and will lead to the closure of HHS offices in several localities that serve low-income families, children with disabilities, homeless people, and young people experiencing kindergarten development programs.