Judge declares Trump's use of Alien Enemies Act 'unlawful'
Share this @internewscast.com

President Donald Trump participates in a meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police held in the State Dining Room of the White House on Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

A federal appellate court on Friday upheld a lower court order directing the Trump administration to restore National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants cut in response to executive orders.

In a unanimous order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected a request to stay the nullification order issued by U.S. District Judge William Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, late last month.

While the government waited to fully appeal until the lower court issued a final order earlier in July, the intermediary court made sure not to fault this slightly-delayed motions practice in its ruling.

“This matter is before the court on defendants-appellants” ‘Time Sensitive Motion for Stay Pending Appeal and Immediate Administrative Stay,'” the panel explains. “The request for immediate relief is DENIED. We note, though, that defendants-appellants filed their motion the day after the district court had entered a promised memorandum reflecting its legal reasoning, and our denial of immediate relief therefore is not based on the timing of relevant filings.”

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump took aim at the NIH grants in question by way of executive orders attacking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and so-called “gender ideology.”

The lower court showcased its disdain for both executive orders – and ultimately previewed its two vacatur orders – during a harsh judicial dressing-down in mid-June.

“I am hesitant to draw this conclusion — but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it — that this represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” Young said during the bench trial in the case. “That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out.”

In each successive order, the court called the government out further.

The order issued June 23 contained merely conclusions but generally, and in all caps, found the NIH rescissions to be: “OF NO EFFECT, VOID, ILLEGAL, SET ASIDE AND VACATED.”

The court elaborated in its order issued July 2:

These consolidated actions are two of many in this district, and across the Nation, claiming that current Executive Branch policies, mostly through Executive Orders, have been implemented by various agencies in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, statutory law, and the Constitution. Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing on the APA claims and bench trial of the remainder, this Court concludes what has been occurring at the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) with respect to its disruption of grants, the grant making process and the pipeline of future scientists by forbidding by fiat certain topics, is on this Administrative Record, illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).

“The new Administration began weaponizing what should not be weaponized – the health of all Americans through its abuse of HHS and the NIH systems, creating chaos and promoting an unreasonable and unreasoned agenda of blacklisting certain topics, that on this Administrative Record, has absolutely nothing to do with the promotion of science or research,” Young goes on.

The Trump administration complained largely about jurisdiction on appeal.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Elderly Man, 80, Allegedly Kills Wife Following Dispute Over His Medical Care: Police Report

Background: Montgomery County Detention Center (Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation)…

Florida Man Takes Key West Tour Train for a Birthday Adventure

A Florida man celebrated his birthday last week by smoking methamphetamine and…

Police Report: Woman Fatally Attacked Man with Hammer, Note Found on Victim

Inset: Journee McGrew (Duval County Jail). Background: Cross Creek Apartments, where McGrew…

Man Accused of Killing Girlfriend After Confrontation About Ex, Police Say

Left inset: Martin Mendoza (Santa Clara County Jail). Right inset: Marissa DiNapoli…

Teenager kills girlfriend and stages it as a suicide

Left: Nathaniel N. Archuleta (Peoria County Jail). Right: Mary Halcomb (Dignity Memorial).…

Police Request Public Assistance in Identifying Vehicle Burglary Suspect

All images courtesy High Springs Police Department Staff report from High Springs…

Court Halts Trump Administration’s Reductions to AmeriCorps

President Donald Trump listens during a briefing with the media, Friday, June…

What’s in Store for Erin Patterson’s Future?

Mushroom cook Erin Patterson still has a long legal road to travel…

Florida Man on Meth Takes Over Tour Train for Birthday Adventure: Police Report

Background: Bodycam footage of Jonathan Winslow”s arrest (WPLG). Inset: Jonathan Winslow (Monroe…

Family Dispute Over Damaged TV Leads to Tragic Incident, Say Police

Inset: O”Neal Robert Matthew Thompson (ECSO). The Florida home where Thompson allegedly…

Mother Shares Events Leading Up to Son Allegedly Decapitating Father

Background: News footage of Denice Mohn (center, in blazer and glasses) leaving…

Tragic Incident: 1-Year-Old Dies in Hot Car While Mother Receives Lip Filler Treatment in California Spa, Police Report

New court documents have shed light on the tragic death of a…