The Trump administration’s big new ” at issue vary for each institution. NIH sets them after taking into account factors like the variable costs of real estate in different parts of the country.
The Trump administration’s new rule limits those expenses so that they can equal no more than 15% of the direct costs for any particular grant. That is well below what most institutions get now.
The Trump administration and its allies have justified the cut, in part, by saying it is closer to what private foundations provide for similar work. Medical researchers and their allies have said the comparison is irrelevant, because foundations don’t generally try to provide the kind of underlying, ongoing support for infrastructure and support personnel that the federal government does.
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Whatever the wisdom of the new limit, it may not be legal.
Samuel Bagenstos, a University of Michigan law professor and former general counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, wrote in a newsletter over the weekend that federal law prohibits the administration from making this kind of cut.
That means this rule is likely to draw lawsuits in the next few days ― and maybe a halt from the courts, similar to the rulings federal judges have handed down in response to other Trump administration actions. Britt’s statement is a sign it could soon face more political blowback as well, even from parts of the country where Trump’s support has been strongest.
