Overview

• The unsigned order lifts a Massachusetts judge’s block on terminations, allowing previously targeted grant cancellations to proceed during ongoing litigation.
• In a 5–4 split, Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett formed the majority, with Chief Justice Roberts joining the three liberals in dissent.
• Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that challenges to the terminated awards likely belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rather than district court.
• The Court declined to stay the lower court’s vacatur of NIH guidance that had restricted future DEI- and gender identity–related funding decisions.
• NIH previously identified and terminated more than 1,700 grants under the policy, while 16 states and public-health groups continue lawsuits alleging unlawful and discriminatory cuts.