The National Science Foundation can continue to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from researchers in several states until litigation aimed at restoring it plays out. A federal judge on Friday declined to grant a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by sixteen Democrat-led states. In April, the NSF announced a new set of priorities and began axing hundreds of grants for research focused on things like misinformation and diversity, equity and inclusion. A lawyer for the NSF said at the hearing that the agency has the authority to fund whatever research it deems necessary.