Judge Blocks Trump’s Policy Capping University Research Funding

India-West News Desk

BOSTON, MA — A federal judge has blocked a controversial policy by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that would have sharply limited the amount of grant money universities could use for overhead expenses, marking a legal loss for President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut research funding at academic institutions, Reuters reported.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled the NSF policy, adopted in May, was “arbitrary and capricious,” and found that the agency failed to follow proper administrative procedures when imposing new limits on reimbursements for indirect research costs, according to Reuters. These costs include facility maintenance, administrative support, and utility bills—essential components of running large-scale research programs.

The policy, announced May 2, capped indirect cost reimbursement at 15% of the direct research funding provided by NSF. This would have meant that for every $100 granted for research, only $15 could be used for operational support—regardless of actual institutional expenses. Traditionally, universities negotiated individualized reimbursement rates with federal agencies, a practice that the new rule would have eliminated.

The NSF, which has a $9 billion annual budget, has been under pressure during the Trump administration to align with broader fiscal tightening goals. Hundreds of grant awards were reportedly canceled, and funding freezes affected institutions like Harvard, Reuters noted. The administration justified the cap by citing growing overhead expenses, which had reached $1.07 billion out of NSF’s $4.22 billion in higher education grants.

This ruling represents the latest in a series of legal obstacles to Trump-era policies aimed at reshaping federal support for academic research, Reuters added.