A divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can cut $783 million in National Institutes of Health grants that the government said were related to topics like diversity, equity and inclusion or promoted “gender ideology” — areas that went against President Donald Trump’s policies.
In a 5-4 decision, the court sided with the Trump administration and blocked a lower court’s order that the administration had to restore the grant funding. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. joined the court’s three liberal justices in dissent.
But the court also decided, in another 5-4 split, that the legal fight over the funding can continue in lower courts and signaled that the president’s crackdown on DEI initiatives was in legal trouble.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett was the deciding vote in each 5-4 majority.
“Four justices would’ve ruled against the administration in full; four would have ruled for it in full; and Barrett split the difference – suggesting that the grant recipients are likely to prevail on their challenges to the Trump administration’s anti-DEI directives, but that they can’t get their grant money until and unless they bring their claims in a different federal court,” Steve Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, told CNN. “In other words, Trump won this battle, but the grant recipients seem likely to win the war.”