Justice Neil Gorsuch Criticizes Lower Courts After Supreme Court Backs Trump Administration in NIH Funding Dispute
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has sharply criticized lower courts for what he described as a failure to follow decisions issued by the nation’s highest court, following a closely divided ruling involving federal research funding.
In a 5–4 decision issued Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to halt millions of dollars in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, gender identity research, and certain COVID-19-related studies.
Writing separately and joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Gorsuch expressed frustration that the Court had repeatedly been forced to revisit issues it believed had already been resolved.
“This marks the third time in a matter of weeks this Court has had to reverse a lower court on an issue it had already addressed,” Gorsuch wrote, adding that while judges may disagree with Supreme Court rulings, they are obligated to follow them rather than disregard them.
The dispute arose after a federal judge in Massachusetts ordered the government to continue funding the grants despite an earlier Supreme Court ruling that had permitted the administration to suspend similar DEI-related funding. Democratic attorneys general and public health organizations challenged the cuts, arguing they were discriminatory and unlawfully targeted certain research areas.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett cast the decisive vote in allowing the administration to terminate the grants, joining fellow conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in the majority.
At the same time, Barrett also joined Chief Justice John Roberts and the Court’s three liberal justices—Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—to leave in place a lower-court ruling that invalidated certain NIH guidance documents outlining agency policy priorities.
The Supreme Court’s decision overturned an earlier order from U.S. District Judge William Young, who had directed the NIH to restore the grants. Young had argued that the funding cuts amounted to discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ communities.
Since returning to office in 2025, President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders aimed at dismantling DEI-related programs established during the previous administration. The Court’s latest ruling represents another legal victory for those policies, while also highlighting ongoing tensions between the Supreme Court and lower federal courts over the interpretation and application of its precedents.
