ISTANBUL

A US federal judge in the state of Massachusetts ruled on Monday that the Trump administration must reinstate hundreds of scientific research grants that had been canceled by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), declaring the terminations unlawful and discriminatory, according to two attorneys involved in the case.

The funding reductions specifically affected research focused on areas like race and gender identity.

US District Judge William Young, a Reagan-term appointee, voiced deep concern over the Trump administration's actions, saying that in his four decades as a federal judge, he had never seen racial discrimination by the government of this nature, the Washington Post reported.

On Monday, Judge Young heard arguments in two lawsuits challenging NIH funding cuts, brought by groups including the American Public Health Association, the United Auto Workers, individual researchers, and over a dozen Democratic-led states.

“We are really gratified” to have a judge who recognized the NIH acted “unlawfully … based on ideological grounds and not based on science,” said Shalini Goel Agarwal of Protect Democracy, representing one group of plaintiffs.

Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said the agency is considering legal steps, including a possible appeal and request to pause the ruling. HHS “stands by its decision” to cut funding for research it claims favored “ideological agendas over scientific rigor,” he added.

According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, the Trump administration has slashed nearly $3.8 billion in NIH funding, including around $500 million for training and professional development -- cuts it called “unprecedented in the history of the agency.”