DELMARVA- Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown are joining a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to slash National Science Foundation programs and funding, arguing the moves illegally jeopardize scientific research and efforts to expand diversity in science, technology, engineering and math.
The lawsuit, filed alongside 15 other attorneys general, targets two recent policy changes by the foundation. On April 18, the agency began terminating projects aimed at increasing participation of women, minorities and people with disabilities in STEM fields. Then, on May 2, it imposed a 15 percent cap on indirect costs—such as laboratory space and equipment—for research projects.
The lawsuit seeks a court order blocking both directives, claiming they violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution. The attorneys general argue the policy changes were made unlawfully and threaten the nation’s scientific competitiveness, economic strength and public health.
Delaware and Maryland’s public universities could be impacted. According to Jennings, the University of Delaware alone could lose nearly $10 million in grant funding if the policies are enforced, potentially affecting research in pharmaceuticals, biology, and agriculture. Delaware State University and other local institutions also rely on foundation funding.
The foundation was created in 1950 as an independent federal agency with the mission of advancing scientific progress. Congress has required that one of the foundation's core goals be to broaden participation in STEM. Between 1995 and 2017, the number of women in science and engineering doubled, and the proportion of people of color increased from 15 percent to 35 percent of degree or job holders in those fields.
The new cost cap also mirrors previously proposed limits at the National Institutes of Health and Department of Energy. Similar caps were overturned in court, in part due to lawsuits filed by Jennings and other attorneys general.
Joining Jennings in the current case are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.