Overview

• The unsigned order lifts an injunction requiring continued payments, allowing NIH to proceed with terminations totaling about $783 million.
• Justice Amy Coney Barrett cast the decisive vote, agreeing to permit cancellations while keeping the district court’s rejection of NIH guidance in force.
• The majority indicated challenges to specific grant payments should be brought in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rather than in district court.
• Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson in dissent, and separate writings from Justices Gorsuch and Jackson highlighted sharp divisions.
• The underlying suits by 16 states and public‑health groups continue after a June ruling that deemed the mass cancellations arbitrary and discriminatory.