Washington AG, Senator Patty Murray Fight Funding Freezes

A federal judge in Massachusetts grants a motion for a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration's defunding of medical and public health research Monday.

The restraining order is the result of 22 states, including Washington, challening National Institution of Health funding cuts for universities and research institutions.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown announced the challenge and subsequent restraining order Monday.

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"Within only a few hours of the lawsuit filed by our coalition of more than 20 attorneys general, a federal judge paused the President's illegal cuts to NIH," Brown said. "The judge's order preserves funding for the lifesaving and life-changing medical research happening in Washington state, and the jobs of employees doing this vital work."

Most of the funding in question goes to public and private universities across the nation. In Washington, that goes to universities like WSU and UW. Brown's press release says the halt in funding could be detrimental to humans and animals alike. The funding also helps research efforts for curing cancer as well as medications for all kinds of diseases.

In somewhat related news, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) slammed funding cuts, which she claims hurts fire mitigation efforts in the state.

She, along with senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) sent a letter to the Interior Secretary and Acting Agriculture Secretary Monday.

The letter calls President Trump's executive orders cutting federal funds to stop firesillegal and jeopardizes small businesses in frontier and rural communities.

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and 10 other senators signed the letter.