2025-22 – AG LOPEZ STATEMENT – U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR MASSACHUSETTS BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM DEFUNDING MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH INNOVATION RESEARCH
Posted on Feb 10, 2025 in Latest Department News, Newsroom
STATE OF HAWAIʻI
KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI
DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KA ʻOIHANA O KA LOIO KUHINA
JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR
KE KIAʻĀINA
ANNE LOPEZ
ATTORNEY GENERAL
LOIO KUHINA
U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR MASSACHUSETTS BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM DEFUNDING MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH INNOVATION RESEARCH
News Release 2025-22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2025
HONOLULU – – Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez has issued the following statement after a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the National Institutes of Health (NIH), barring its attempt to unilaterally cut billions in funding for biomedical and public health research:
“The court’s swift action provides a temporary halt to the Trump administration’s attempts to cut critical, lifesaving medical research funding for public health institutions,” said Attorney General Lopez. “I will continue to do everything within my legal authority to fight for the people of Hawaiʻi and enforce the rule of law.”
The TRO comes less than six hours after Attorney General Lopez and a coalition of 21 other attorneys general sued the Trump Administration for violating laws that preserve NIH grants for medical research against arbitrary and unilateral cuts, of the type attempted by the Trump Administration. The TRO stops the NIH from taking any steps to implement or enforce their attempted across-the-board reduction in research grants within the Plaintiff states until a further order is made by the Court.
A hearing has been scheduled in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts on Friday, February 21 at 10 a.m. More information about the lawsuit can be found here.
Toni Schwartz
Public Information Officer
State of Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General
Ka ʻOihana O Ka Loio Kuhina
425 Queen Street
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96813
Ph: 808-586-1252
Cell: 808-379-9249
Fax: 808-586-1239