The US Supreme Court has derailed researchers’ efforts to reinstate almost $2 billion in research grants issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The court’s decision on Thursday represents a remarkable reversal, allowing the administration of US President Donald Trump to proceed with science cuts it began in late February.

Although the Supreme Court ruled partially in the researchers’ favour, some scientists say the decision amounts to a de-facto win by the Trump administration, because the time and cost of challenging their terminations in a different court will be prohibitive. And it could spell doom for other legal efforts, such as one by a group of University of California researchers, to reinstate their funding from other agencies such as the US National Science Foundation.