The Justice Department and 16 state attorneys general reached a settlement with the National Institutes of Health requiring the agency to resume ordinary scientific review and issue decisions on thousands of delayed grant applications. The settlement covers more than 5,000 grants and obliges NIH to complete reviews and provide determinations on multiple tranches by set deadlines in January, April and July. The agreement follows litigation alleging NIH diverted resources and delayed panels after an internal directive in 2025 curtailed funding for topics including diversity, equity and inclusion. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and other plaintiffs secured provisions that require NIH to restore its regular review process but did not extract an admission of liability from the agency. Institutions and investigators affected by the delays now face a compressed timeline to plan budgets and projects. NIH’s commitments to restart normal review procedures could free billions in university research funding and ease immediate uncertainty, but unresolved claims over terminated grants and ongoing legal challenges mean some awards remain in dispute.