US judge blocks Energy Department from slashing federal research funding

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from carrying out steep cuts to federal research funding provided to universities by the U.S. Department of Energy.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued a temporary restraining order blocking the department from implementing the new policy at the behest of a group of universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and California Institute of Technology.

The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, said she would consider whether to issue a longer-term preliminary injunction during an April 28 hearing. The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

They along with several other universities and academic trade associations had sued on Monday to block the administration from moving forward with a policy change meant to reduce government spending in support of “indirect” research costs, which are not readily attributable to specific projects.

Indirect costs are often used to fund facilities, equipment and research staff that provide value across multiple research projects, rather than being tied to a single project.

The Energy Department announced on Friday that it would cut more than $400 million in annual spending by setting an across-the-board 15% reimbursement rate for indirect costs of research. The department said the policy would bring “greater transparency and efficiency” to federal government spending.

The universities argued in their lawsuit that arbitrary cuts to indirect research costs would force them to lay off staff, shutter expensive facilities and devastate the careers of young scientists.

The plaintiffs include three trade associations including the Association of American Universities as well as Brown University, Cornell University, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the University of Rochester.

The National Institutes of Health has announced a similar cut to indirect research costs, but a federal judge in Boston in March blocked the administration from proceeding with those cuts. The administration is appealing.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Mark Porter)