HHS Lawyers Advise NIH Against Re-Terminating Restored Grants
WASHINGTON – Lawyers with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are advising the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to refrain from re-terminating approximately 900 grants-totaling $783 million-that were previously restored following a court order, according to a report by Science. The advice comes after the Supreme Court recently overturned the initial court order, but a lower court ruling finding the original directives for grant termination unlawful remains in effect.
The grants were initially canceled by NIH, but a June court decision compelled the agency to reinstate them. HHS lawyers now caution that attempting to terminate the reinstated grants could be seen as a renewed submission of the previously deemed unlawful directives.
“For those grants reinstated by NIH in response to the June judgements, we would strongly recommend against re-terminating such grants, as it will likely be viewed as a reapplication of the now-vacated challenged directives,” NIH legal adviser David Lankford wrote, as reported by Science.
While the HHS legal counsel recommends against re-termination, Science notes that political appointees at NIH could disregard the advice. The agency may also have increased adaptability in the next fiscal year to cut funding for grants deemed misaligned with the management’s priorities.
