GAO Cites Illegal NIH Grant Cuts as Judge Stops $4 Billion FEMA Fund Shift

The Government Accountability Office concluded on Tuesday that the Trump administration violated the 1974 Impoundment Control Act by abruptly canceling more than 1,800 National Institutes of Health grants and slowing approval of new awards. GAO said the moves created an $8 billion shortfall in NIH obligations, amounting to an unlawful withholding of funds Congress had already appropriated for the agency’s $48 billion research budget. While GAO findings are non-binding, they strengthen congressional oversight efforts and could bolster ongoing litigation challenging the administration’s funding actions. On the same day, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston issued a preliminary injunction preventing the administration from reallocating roughly $4 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which finances projects designed to protect communities against natural disasters. The lawsuit, brought by a coalition of 20 largely Democratic-led states, argues that FEMA lacks authority to redirect the disaster-prevention money without congressional approval. The ruling freezes the diversion plan while the case proceeds.