Attorney General Kris Mayes of Arizona has joined a group of 22 states in suing the Trump administration for cutting billions of federal grants and support. Through a contentious regulatory provision, the legal challenge contends that President Trump lacks the power to abruptly stop these essential funding sources.
The Trump administration is using a single rule that allows grants to be canceled if they "no longer effectuate agency priorities." Kris Mayes and the coalition contend that the clause does not permit federal agencies to cut funds in this way and was never meant for such a wide application.
The funding cuts have already forced significant changes in Arizona:
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- Arizona's business groups and universities stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in financing.
- There is a chance that important programs promoting clean water, public health, education, crime prevention, and food security will be discontinued.
- The Department of Economic Security in Arizona let go of about 500 workers.
Protecting "indirect cost" reimbursements for research institutions across the country is a major aspect of the lawsuit. These reimbursements pay for necessary costs including as infrastructure, electricity, academic assistance, and laboratory expenses that support biomedical research. The United States' standing as a leader in life-saving medical research may be seriously jeopardized if this funding were to disappear.
"Arizona students and universities will miss out on millions of dollars in critical funding and research support if the Trump administration is not blocked from defunding NIH and its grants to our state," Kris Mayes stated.
She emphasized that beyond immediate impacts, the cuts could have "disastrous and exponential consequences for innovation and progress, curbing our ability to combat disease and protect Americans for generations to come."
The lawsuit is co-led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Illinois, and Michigan. The full coalition includes Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
This marks the 19th lawsuit Arizona has joined against the Trump administration, reflecting the state's continued legal opposition to federal policy changes.
Mayes characterized the administration's approach as illegal and arbitrary, stating: "The Trump administration unilaterally and arbitrarily stripped those grants away from the states illegally and it did so using a clause in a regulation that it is not allowed to use in this way." She described the policy as a "slash-and-burn approach to federal grant funding" that has left Arizona communities struggling to address the resulting gaps in services and support.
