• A federal judge blocked cuts to the National Science Foundation's funding for universities.
• The decision protects crucial research in technology fields like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
• The ruling deemed the funding changes as "arbitrary and capricious."

A federal judge has intervened to stop the Trump administration from implementing significant cuts to research funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston ruled against a policy change announced in May that threatened to strip universities of tens of millions in funding, particularly impacting research in important fields like artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, according to Reuters, CBS News, and Los Angeles Times.

Judge Talwani characterized the NSF's policy change as "arbitrary and capricious," emphasizing that the proposed adjustments to indirect costs would undermine research integrity. The NSF typically covers indirect expenses such as building maintenance; however, the Trump administration attempted to classify these costs as "overhead" and limit them to 15% of direct research funding. The University of California estimated that this cap could lead to losses of nearly $100 million annually, according to Reuters and Los Angeles Times.

Past rulings have shown that judges have repeatedly rejected similar funding cap attempts by the Trump administration, which previously extended to grants from the Energy Department and the National Institutes of Health, as detailed in the reports by CBS News and Los Angeles Times.