Tong and the coalition want the NSF to continue to preference some groups at the expense of others when it comes to doling out funding ...

Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gettr, Truth Social, Twitter

Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 15 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to stop cuts to National Science Foundation (NSF) programs and funding.

The move is in response to an April 18, 2025, announcement on the NSF website indicating it was adopting new priorities for NSF funding programs.

Then-NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan wrote that “efforts [to broaden participation in STEM] should not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups,” and that “[r]esearch projects with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities.”

The announcement indicated that going forward, NSF planned to use two statutory criteria to ensure that every award "has the potential to advance new knowledge (Intellectual Merit) with maximum impact on the Nation and its people (Broader Impacts)."

"The principles of merit, competition, equal opportunity, and excellence are the bedrock of the NSF mission. NSF continues to review all projects using Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria," the announcement said.

Apparently that's not how Tong and the coalition see it -- they would rather continue to preference certain groups of people based on their protected class and immutable characteristics at the expense of others.

Additionally, the lawsuit addresses a previous NSF announcement that beginning on May 5, it would not cover indirect costs at a rate higher than “15% of modified total direct costs (MTDC), as defined in 2 CFR 200.1” for grants and cooperative agreements awarded to Institutions of Higher Education (“IHE”).

With this lawsuit, Attorney General Tong and the coalition are seeking a court order blocking the implementation of NSF’s new directives.

“The Trump Administration is arbitrarily and lawlessly knee-capping scientific advancement in our country. These cuts hit Connecticut hard. We’re suing to stop Donald Trump from breaking the law, and to protect millions of dollars in jobs and groundbreaking scientific research nationwide,” said Attorney General Tong.

Attorney General Tong and the coalition also assert in the lawsuit that NSF’s directive to cap indirect costs at 15 percent would "devastate scientific research at universities throughout the country" and mean that "essential research and infrastructure would be cut, leading to critical projects being abandoned, staff laid off, and research essential to national security, public health, and economic stability ending."

It should be noted that NSF has already entered into a consent agreement with the court to pause the implementation of NSF-25-034 Policy Notice: Implementation of Standard 15% Indirect Cost Rate pending resolution after a June 13, 2025 hearing. 

Attorney General Tong and the coalition argue that NSF’s directives violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by "unlawfully changing NSF policy and ignoring Congress’s intent for how NSF should function." The lawsuit seeks a court order ruling NSF’s new policies are illegal and blocking them from being implemented.

Joining Attorney General Tong in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Click here to view the complaint.

‘NO AD’ subscription for CDM!  Sign up here and support real investigative journalism and help save the republic!‘