A federal judge on Wednesday issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing National Institutes of Health payments for research overhead, a decision that suggests plaintiffs seeking to overturn the sweeping policy change are likely to eventually succeed.

The NIH, the main funder of biomedical research, awarded about $35 billion in grants to research groups last year. The total is divided into “direct” costs – covering researchers’ salaries and laboratory supplies – and “indirect” costs, the administrative and facility costs needed to support that work.

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s plan to cut funding for medical research grants, a move that could have cost North Carolina researchers up to $44 million. The federal government is expected to appeal.