Attorney General Bonta Sues to Stop Termination, Withholding of National Science Foundation Grants

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today filed a lawsuit to stop the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) from: (1) terminating grants for scientific research that seeks to promote and understand diversity in higher education and the workforce, and (2) imposing a 15% cap on indirect cost reimbursements for research projects. From creating AI technology that predicts weather patterns to protect communities, to developing sustainable solutions for environmental and economic challenges, to making power grids more sustainable, NSF-funded research at American universities has ensured the United States’ status as a global leader in scientific innovation. In the complaint, Attorney General Bonta and 15 other attorneys general ask the court to bar NSF from implementing the terminations and cost cap as arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act.

“President Trump wants to make America’s universities second tier with his backwards efforts to slash research funding that has kept us on the cutting edge of science and innovation,” said Attorney General Bonta. “For more than 50 years, Congress has expressly authorized the National Science Foundation to train up the next generation of talent and invest in the infrastructure necessary to keep our position as a global leader in STEM. With President Trump’s latest round of indiscriminate funding cuts, America is poised to fall behind its competitors at a critical moment in the global technology race. We’re suing to stop him.”

At the direction of President Trump, NSF is taking aim at the twin pillars sustaining the United States’ STEM preeminence. First, NSF announced a departure from Congress’s longstanding policy to promote a robust STEM workforce that draws in underrepresented populations. Second, NSF announced that it would slash support for the infrastructure necessary for cutting edge American research. These actions violate the law and jeopardize America’s longstanding global leadership in STEM.  

Since 1980, Congress has maintained that for the United States to maintain its competitive edge, the nation would need to encourage and prepare people from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM to acquire skills and pursue careers in science and engineering fields.  And it has directed, empowered, and funded NSF to carry this policy out – with significant success. Between 1995 and 2017, the number of women in science and engineering occupations, or with science or engineering degrees, doubled; minorities, meanwhile, went from representing about 15% of those groups to about 35%.  

To conduct NSF research, universities must maintain and staff substantial infrastructure, such as cutting-edge laboratories, advanced computer systems and networks, appropriate security, and specialized heating or cooling systems. Because the costs associated with such infrastructure often are not attributable solely to one federally sponsored research project, the federal government negotiates indirect cost rates that ensure research grants are sufficient to actually sustain university research efforts. By indiscriminately slashing indirect cost rates, NSF is repeating the unlawful practices of the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, which districts courts have already enjoined.  

In California, millions of dollars in funding are at risk across the California State University, University of California, and public community college systems. Many innovations — like the internet, GPS, and MRI technology — trace their origins to research initially funded by NSF. Without NSF funding, many California colleges and universities will be forced to substantially reduce or stop altogether potentially groundbreaking programs and research projects.

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Hawaii, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Washington in filing the lawsuit. 

A copy of the complaint is available here.