Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general suing President Donald Trump’s administration over funding cuts that slash National Institutes of Health grants for universities and research institutions.
Nearly two dozen states sued Monday to block the National Institutes of Health’s surprise slashing of billions of dollars in medical research around the country, calling it a “devastating” blow. Later Monday, a federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked the cuts from taking effect, setting a hearing for later this month to settle whether they are legal and should proceed.
During a Monday morning news conference ahead of that judge’s decision, Brown declared, “Chaos is coming from Washington” and said his office “will not stand for that.”
Brown called Trump’s decision “draconian” and said it “is a direct threat to the future of American higher education and global leadership in research.” Brown said his office is working alongside 21 other attorneys general.
“We are working with urgency,” he said of the lawsuit filed Monday.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Massachusetts and the attorneys general had hoped to see a court order barring the Trump administration and NIH from carrying out the cuts to funding.
“Marylanders have an interest in NIH funding at the levels that they have been up until this weekend,” Brown said.
The funding, Brown said, will “save lives in Maryland, it will create jobs in Maryland, it will ensure that Maryland continues to be a leader when it comes to research.”
Brown on other executive orders
Brown was asked about other actions his office has taken in reaction to the flurry of executive orders coming out of the White House since President Trump took office in January.
Regarding the Trump administration’s push to cut staff through “deferred resignations,” Brown said his office was not advising federal workers.
However, Brown said, “the terms of this so-called ‘buyout’ are uncertain. I do caution them. I do recommend that they consult union representatives who have an intricate understanding of federal personnel law and whether these benefits are real or not.”
“From everything we can see, (the deal is) a false promise for these workers,” Brown added.
Regarding the Trump administration’s efforts to create barriers to “gender-affirming care,” Brown said, “Here in Maryland, a group of courageous transgender children and their families are fighting back with a lawsuit. We are not a part of that case, but we support them, and I’m considering options for Maryland filing or joining a lawsuit.”
On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance wrote in a social media post on X, “If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
Given the legal challenges to the executive orders the Trump administration has generated, asked if he believed the country was in the middle of a “constitutional crisis,” Brown said “I do think that America’s democracy is strong, and it is being tested.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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