Although Harvard's lawsuit focused on the research cuts at its own university, the Trump administration has taken action to reduce federal spending at other universities, including MSU. Michigan State University’s research expenditures reached $932 million in 2024 alone, $474 million of those coming from federal sources. As of May, researchers at MSU have suffered up to $82 million in research cuts. 

The brief, which was released on Monday, contained three central arguments, beginning with a strong emphasis on the integral role research within universities have with driving America’s scientific advancement. The document mentions President Roosevelt establishing the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) during World War II, which in turn provided research that played an important role in the U.S.' victory. 

The second argument reasons that having an academic-government partnership has made the country a global leader. The brief claims that "sustained government-university collaboration has contributed to everything from nuclear reactors to cancer treatments to Google."

The brief goes on to cite several other achievements made by the universities, including the COVID-19 vaccine being released in record time due to federally supported research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. "Without federal support, the COVID-19 vaccine likely would have taken years, even decades, to develop, rather than months," the brief claims. 

"These examples vividly confirm, it is often true that the boldest research—with the most potential to redound to humanity’s benefit—depends on public investment," the brief states. 

The third argument suggests that cutting federal funding to universities will have detrimental effects to the country, and schools that won’t experience it will still be affected, due to the collaborative nature of research amongst institutions. 

The brief goes on to cite current research that is being done with artificial intelligence and treating Alzheimer’s disease: "The work cannot continue at individual sites; MIT cannot use machine learning to uncover patterns, for example, without data from Princeton and Harvard. The withdrawal of federal support at even one institution is thus a blow to the entire ecosystem and deters the long-term investment necessary for scientific and technological progress."

Asked why MSU joined the amicus brief, MSU Spokesperson Amber McCann wrote, "It was another opportunity to help highlight the importance of the relationship between the federal government and America’s research universities in keeping the country at the forefront of innovation and discovery" in an email to The State News.

McCann emphasized the importance of academic-government relationship, stating that the "decades-long partnership has helped ensure America’s competitiveness around the globe, and spurred medical breakthroughs that help improve health outcomes and cure disease."

"The university joining is part of its ongoing commitment to help elevate the importance of the research being done at institutions like MSU," McCann said.