The University of Pittsburgh joined 11 other universities and three higher education trade groups last week in a lawsuit against the Department of Defense (DOD) over the agency’s plan to cap indirect research cost rates at 15 percent.
Pitt was ranked 21st among all U.S. research universities, with $70.9 million in total research spending from DOD grants.
A judge issued a temporary restraining order against the DOD cap one day after the suit was filed on June 16.
This is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to cut reimbursement rates for facilities and administration costs universities incur on research projects. Federal judges have issued injunctions against similar cuts to funding from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Energy.
On June 21, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani vacated the National Science Foundation’s recently announced 15% cap on indirect cost payments, declaring it “invalid, arbitrary and capricious, and contrary to law,” according to Bloomberg News.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a May 14 memo that the DOD rate cut is aimed at “accountability” and rooting out “waste,” according to Inside Higher Education.
The lawsuit participants argue that slashing indirect costs rates “will stop critical research in its tracks, lead to layoffs and cutbacks at universities across the country, badly undermine scientific research at United States universities, and erode our nation’s enviable status as a global leader in scientific research and innovation.”
The other plaintiffs include: Association of American Universities, American Council on Education, Association of Public And Land-Grant Universities, Arizona State University, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, University of California, Colorado State University, Cornell University, University of Illinois, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland–College Park, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Washington.
A hearing in the case is set for July 2.
— Susan Jones
Have a story idea or news to share? Share it with the University Times.
Follow the University Times on Twitter and Facebook.