Attorney General Ellison issues statement after Appeals Court affirms permanent injunction against Trump Administration for defunding medical and public health research
Ruling protects between $500M-$650M in funding for University of Minnesota alone over the next 5 years
Ruling also protects hundreds of millions in funding for Mayo Clinic
January 6, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued the following statement after the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed yesterday a lower court ruling permanently preventing the Trump Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from implementing a policy that would cut billions of dollars in funds that support cutting-edge medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country, regardless of whether their state joined the lawsuit.
"The cutting-edge medical and public health research done in Minnesota has saved and improved countless lives,” said Attorney General Ellison. “Minnesota is widely recognized as a national leader in conducting medical research, and that’s a tremendous point of pride for our state. I cannot fathom why the Trump Administration would try to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from our world-class institutions like the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic. Regardless, I am pleased to have won this fight against the Trump Administration’s shortsighted attack on Minnesota’s pioneering medical research, and I will continue fighting to protect our state from this lawless and cruel administration.”
The ruling protects critical funds that facilitate biomedical research, like lab, faculty, infrastructure, and utility costs. Without them, the lifesaving and life-changing medical research, which Minnesota in particular has long been a leader in, could be compromised.
The University of Minnesota Office of Cost Analysis (OCA) determined that NIH’s cuts would cost the University at least $100 million to $130 million per year over the next five years, or between $500 million and $650 million total. The total would likely be even higher, as OCA assumed an annual growth rate of 5%, when the actual annual growth in recent years was closer to 9%.
The ruling also protects significant funding to the Mayo Clinic as well. An early estimate produced by policy analyst James Murphy found that Mayo Clinic would lose roughly $54 million per year as a result of those threatened cuts.
On February 10, 2025, less than six hours after Attorney General Ellison and a coalition of 21 other attorneys general filed their lawsuit against the Administration, a judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order against NIH, barring its attempts to cut the critical research funding. The court subsequently issued a permanent injunction preventing the Trump Administration from implementing its policy restrictions on this important category of funding. The Trump Administration appealed that ruling to the First Circuit.
NIH is the primary source of federal funding for medical research in the United States. Medical research funding by NIH grants have led to innumerable scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of treatment for cancers of all types and the first sequencing of DNA. Additionally, dozens of NIH-supported scientists have earned Nobel Prizes for their groundbreaking scientific work.
Joining Attorney General Ellison in filing the lawsuit, which was led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Illinois and Michigan, were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
