AG Weiser sues Trump admin over health-research cuts

DENVER — Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is among nearly two dozen attorneys general to join a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health that seeks to block what the plaintiffs say are unlawful cuts to “groundbreaking medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country.”

The lawsuit, which claims the federal government is violating the Administrative Procedure Act, is “challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut ‘indirect cost’ reimbursements at every research institution throughout the country,” Weiser’s office said Monday. “These reimbursements cover expenses to facilitate biomedical research, like lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs. Without them, the lifesaving and life-changing medical research in which the United States has long been a leader, could be compromised.”

Weiser claims that Trump’s proposal would reduce NIH funding to Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus by $90 million. 

“We have world-class medical research in Colorado that has transformed healthcare and improved countless lives. This illegal action cutting NIH funding — taken abruptly, recklessly, without reflecting on its painful impact, and with no justification for a dramatic change — will harm Colorado universities, undermine important research efforts, and damage our economy,” Weiser said in a prepared statement. “Government agencies are required to act fairly and reasonably, ensuring that affected parties have notice of potentially dramatic changes and an opportunity to be heard.”

The other attorney’s general participating in the lawsuit represent Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

“Most NIH-funding research occurs outside of federal government institutions at public and private universities and colleges,” Weiser’s office said. “In Colorado, for example, this includes $203.3 million for Colorado State University, $360 million at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and $77.9 million at the University of Colorado Boulder.”

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