NEW YORK – A court has allowed the National Science Foundation to continue holding back a substantial amount of funding from researchers in various states while a lawsuit concerning this funding goes forward. This decision was made on Friday.

The lawsuit, initiated by sixteen Democrat-led states such as New York, Hawaii, California, Colorado, and Connecticut, requested an immediate restoration of payments. However, U.S. District Judge John Cronan in New York decided not to demand the NSF resume payments while the case was still under deliberation.

In his decision, Judge Cronan mentioned that he refrained from issuing a preliminary injunction partly because the Court of Federal Claims might be the appropriate venue for this financial dispute. Additionally, he noted that the states did not demonstrate that the NSF’s actions contradicted the agency’s mission.

The legal action started in May claims that the National Science Foundation’s updated priorities for grant funding and limits on indirect research expenses are “unlawful and endanger America’s historic global leadership in STEM fields.”

Previously, another district court had already stopped the implementation of the cap on indirect costs, which are administrative expenses essential for conducting research, such as paying support staff and maintaining equipment. This ruling had sought to reinstate funding for the grants that were reduced.

In April, NSF unveiled new priorities, leading to the cancellation of numerous research grants focusing on areas like misinformation and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some of the affected research also covered artificial intelligence, post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans, and STEM education for K-12 students, among others.

Researchers were not given a specific explanation for why their grants were canceled, attorney Colleen Faherty, representing the state of New York, said during last month’s hearing. Instead, they received boilerplate language stating that their work “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.”

NSF has long been directed by Congress to encourage underrepresented groups like women and people with disabilities to participate in STEM. According to the lawsuit, the science foundation’s funding cuts already halted efforts to train the next generation of scientists in fields like computer science, math and environmental science.

A lawyer for the NSF said at the hearing that the agency has the authority to fund whatever research it deems necessary — and has since its inception in 1950. In the court filing, the government also argued that its current priorities were to “create opportunities for all Americans everywhere” and “not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups.”

The plaintiff states are trying to “substitute their own judgement for the judgement of the agency,” Adam Gitlin, an attorney for the NSF, said during the hearing.

The science foundation is still funding some projects related to expanding representation in STEM, Cronan wrote in his ruling. Per the lawsuit filed in May, for example, the University of Northern Colorado lost funding for only one of its nine programs focused on increasing participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields.

The states are reviewing the decision, according to spokespeople from the New York and Hawaii attorney general offices. The National Science Foundation declined to comment.

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