The US Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to cut $783 million in research funding as part of its push to dismantle federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

In a 5-4 decision, the justices lifted a lower court order that had blocked the cuts made by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to align with President Donald Trump’s priorities.

Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s three liberal justices in dissent.

The order gives the administration a green light to move forward with cancelling hundreds of research grants while litigation continues.

Plaintiffs — including 16 Democratic state attorneys general and several public-health advocacy groups — warn the cuts will cause "incalculable losses in public health and human life."

The high court left in place a separate order that blocks the administration from applying new anti-DEI guidance to future funding, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett casting a key vote.

The Justice Department has argued that funding decisions should not be "subject to judicial second-guessing" and that DEI policies can "conceal insidious racial discrimination."

Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged courts to send the cases to the federal claims court, citing an earlier Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for cuts to teacher-training programs.

Plaintiffs countered that research grants are fundamentally different from contracts.

They argued that cancelling studies midway destroys data, disrupts careers, and undermines potential breakthroughs.

The lawsuit challenges only part of the NIH’s estimated $12 billion in projects already affected by cuts.

The administration has also targeted dozens of other cases where courts had blocked funding cancellations.