Maryland Attorney General Secures Settlement with HHS to End Delays in Crucial Medical Research Funding

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has announced a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), putting an end to previously imposed delays on the review of critical medical and public health research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This agreement stems from a lawsuit initiated by Attorney General Brown and a coalition of 16 other state attorneys general, who challenged the Trump administration’s alleged unlawful and unreasonable delays in processing NIH grant applications. The settlement ensures that HHS will resume its standard review procedures for these vital research proposals, including those that had been held in abeyance.

The lawsuit, filed in April, argued that the administration had engaged in unprecedented actions, including the cancellation of review panel meetings and the indefinite postponement of decisions on applications that had already been vetted by experts. These delays impacted billions of dollars in requested research funding across the plaintiff states. In Maryland alone, over 200 research funding applications from university researchers were left in a state of uncertainty. The repercussions of these delays extended to budget shortfalls for academic and research programs within universities and disrupted the enrollment of incoming graduate students, who are crucial to the future of scientific advancement.

Under the terms of the settlement, HHS is committed to processing the pending NIH grant applications, including those from Maryland institutions, according to an established and prompt timeline. This agreement also addresses directives that were previously found to be unlawful by the District Court, which had targeted NIH projects based on perceived connections to topics such as “DEI,” “transgender issues,” and “vaccine hesitancy.” The current settlement prohibits NIH from applying these unlawful directives during the review process for new grant applications. A hearing regarding the federal government’s appeal of the prior court decision is scheduled for January 6, 2026. Attorneys General from Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin joined Maryland in reaching this settlement.

This development is expected to allow researchers in Maryland and across the participating states to move forward with their vital work, potentially leading to advancements in medical treatments and public health initiatives. Researchers and institutions will now have a clearer path to securing the funding necessary for their projects, which could impact the health and well-being of many.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.

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