ACLU sues National Institutes of Health for 'ideological purge' of research projects

Source: NBC News

April 2, 2025, 4:20 PM EDT


The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the National Institutes of Health has conducted an “ongoing ideological purge of critical research projects” that violates federal law and is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts district court on behalf of four researchers and three unions with members who rely on NIH funding, says that the federal science agency “abruptly cancelled” hundreds of research projects “without scientifically-valid explanation or cause.” The lawsuit says NIH has justified its cancellations with “ideological purity directives” about research related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), vaccine hesitancy and gender identity, among other topics.

“The new arbitrary regime is not codified in any law or policy,” the lawsuit says, adding that NIH has “failed to develop any guidelines, definitions or explanations” that explain “the parameters of the agency’s prohibitions against research with some connection to DEI, gender, and other topics that fail Defendants’ ideological conformity screen.”

The new lawsuit lists the NIH; its director, Jay Bhattacharya; the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services; and its director, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as defendants. Both federal agencies said they would not comment on pending litigation.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/aclu-sues-national-institutes-health-ideological-purge-research-projec-rcna199360