APHA v. NIH: court finds terminations discriminatory and void, orders grants restored

After a bench hearing on the merits of consolidated APA challenges by APHA, researchers, the UAW, and 16 states, Judge Young ruled from the bench that NIH's directives and grant terminations were arbitrary and capricious, "void" and "illegal," ordering reinstatement of terminated grants held by plaintiffs and plaintiff states — stating he had not seen such government racial discrimination in 40 years on the bench and that the record also evidenced anti-LGBTQ discrimination. A June 23, 2025 partial final judgment declared the directives "of no effect, void, illegal, set aside, and vacated." The First Circuit denied a stay on July 18, 2025. (See also section 10.)