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A federal judge declared the Trump administration’s move to nix some National Institutes of Health grants as illegal, describing the cuts as discriminatory during remarks on Monday, according to reports.
“I am hesitant to draw this conclusion — but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it — that this represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” Judge William Young said, according to Politico. “That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out.”
Young, who serves in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, was nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1985, according to the court’s website.
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“Any discrimination by our government is so wrong that it requires the court to enjoin it and at an appropriate time, I’m going to do it,” the judge said, according to Reuters.
HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon noted in a statement that the department “is exploring all legal options, including filing an appeal and moving to stay the order.”
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“HHS stands by its decision to end funding for research that prioritized ideological agendas over scientific rigor and meaningful outcomes for the American people,” Nixon declared in the statement the department provided to Fox News Digital.
“Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy and the Trump administration, HHS is committed to ensuring that taxpayer dollars support programs rooted in evidence-based practices and gold standard science – not driven by divisive DEI mandates or gender ideology,” Nixon said.
White House Spokesman Kush Desai accused the judge of airing his own view.
“It is appalling that a federal judge would use court proceedings to express his political views and preferences. How is a judge going to deliver an impartial decision when he explicitly stated his biased opinion that the Administration’s retraction of illegal DEI funding is racist and anti-LGBTQ? Justice ceases to be administered when a judge clearly rules on the basis of his political ideologies,” Desai declared in a statement he provided to Fox News Digital.
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The White House deputy press secretary asserted, “DEI is based on the premise that an individual’s competence and abilities are tied to his or her racial background, and Americans have resoundingly rejected this flawed and racist logic.”
“The Trump administration is committed to restoring the Gold Standard of Science, and that starts with recognizing the biological reality of the male and female sexes. The NIH is focusing on Making America Healthy Again by realigning our research spending to address our chronic disease crisis instead, not to validate ideological activism,” he noted.
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