The Trump administration will not be asking the Supreme Court to take up its fight to slash federal support for funding that the nation’s science enterprise relies on for basic operating costs. The deadline to do so came and went this week without a petition from Trump’s Department of Justice, effectively ending the 14-month standoff over a controversial policy to drastically reduce the rate of reimbursement for “indirect costs” on federal grants.
The legal battle between the administration and the research community started last February, when the National Institutes of Health abruptly announced it would cap payments for research overhead at 15%. Three lawsuits opposing the caps were immediately filed by state attorneys general and organizations representing private and public universities, hospitals, and academic medical centers.
Under the previous policy, these institutions would negotiate with the NIH for individual rates — to cover expenses not directly linked to the goals of a particular project, like facility upkeep and salaries for grant management staff. Many of the nation’s most elite research institutions typically receive 50% or more of their direct research expenses to cover indirect costs.
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