A settlement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will restart delayed reviews of critical medical and public health research, clearing a path forward for universities and researchers in Nevada and other states.
The agreement requires HHS to resume its usual process for reviewing National Institutes of Health grant applications on a prompt, agreed-upon timeline. It resolves claims raised in a lawsuit filed in April by a coalition of 16 states that challenged what they described as unreasonable and intentional delays by the Trump administration.
“This is a win for the public health of Nevadans and Americans across the country,” said Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford. “The Trump administration's unlawful delays on this funding caused an unnecessary and dangerous impact on our public health and medical research infrastructure, including at UNLV. This agreement stops the Trump administration from using these grant delays to further damage the ability of our medical professionals to keep Nevadans safe and to stay at the forefront of necessary research."
NIH grant applications typically move through several rounds of review by subject matter experts and agency officials who assess scientific merit, funding availability, and agency priorities. Earlier this year, the administration canceled upcoming meetings for review panels, delayed future meetings, and withheld final decisions on applications that had already received approval.
The states said those actions caused significant harm to public research institutions. In Nevada, three NIH grants for UNLV were terminated, resulting in about $2.4 million in lost funding for researchers.
The settlement also builds on an earlier court ruling that blocked federal directives targeting NIH projects tied to topics such as “DEI,” “transgender issues,” and “vaccine hesitancy.” The court set aside those directives, and a hearing on the federal government’s appeal is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2026. Under the new agreement, NIH is restricted from applying those directives when reviewing new grant applications.
Attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin joined Nevada in the settlement.
