Judge blocks US Energy Department effort to cut research support for universities – JURIST
US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs granted universities and university advocacy groups relief Wednesday when she approved their motion for a temporary restraining order on the federal Department of Energy’s (DOE) new “Rate Cap Policy.”
The DOE announced its new policy on April 11. The policy will cut funding for indirect costs that support research at colleges and universities by roughly half. Indirect costs include areas like infrastructure and administration.
Several higher education advocacy groups and multiple institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), California Institute of Technology, and Cornell, among others, sued the DOE Monday in the District of Massachusetts, seeking a declaratory judgment that the DOE’s Rate Cap Policy is invalid, capricious and arbitrary, and contrary to law. The plaintiffs also requested preliminary and permanent injunctions.
“If DOE’s policy is allowed to stand, it will devastate scientific research at America’s universities and badly undermine our Nation’s enviable status as a global leader in scientific research and innovation,” the plaintiffs argued in their complaint.
Judge Burroughs’ order instructed the DOE not to implement its new policy and to provide notice of the order to all funding recipients affected by the Rate Cap Policy within 24 hours of the order’s filing. The order states the DOE must also provide the court with biweekly reports, indicating that regular indirect cost disbursements are continuing for as long as the temporary restraining order is in effect.
In a press release issued April 11, the DOE stated that the new policy will save $405 million annually. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, also a defendant in the lawsuit, said the new policy is about ensuring efficiency in government spending: “The purpose of Department of Energy funding to colleges and universities is to support scientific research – not foot the bill for administrative costs and facility upgrades.”
The universities’ lawsuit against the DOE lists “specialized nuclear-related facilities” and “computer systems to analyze enormous volumes of data,” as well as people to operate the systems and facilities, among the examples of indirect costs at research universities.
The complaint says this work supports research projects, some of which are years in the making, that are investigating “advanced nuclear and cybersecurity technologies, arms control verification mechanisms designed to reduce the risk of nuclear war, novel radioactive drugs to diagnose and treat cancer, and upgrades for the electrical grids that keep the lights on in rural communities, among many others.”
The new policy only applies to institutions of higher education and not to other DOE grant recipients. Opponents argue the policy is nearly identical to one introduced by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in February. A federal judge in Massachusetts ordered the NIH not to implement its policy days after NIH made its announcement and the Association of American Medical Colleges filed suit.
The DOE has until Tuesday to file an opposition to the motion.
