Scientists protest NIH cuts that senator says ‘will kill more Americans’

Across the US on Feb. 19, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in rallies in a coordinated national day of action to protest the mass firings of federal employees. The Donald J. Trump administration directed the terminations—which affected thousands of employees across the US government and are without modern precedent—as part of its efforts to reduce the size and cost of the federal government. Trump told reporters on Feb. 15, “We want to downsize government but make it better” when explaining why his administration was cutting the federal workforce. But critics of the administration’s approach to downsizing say his administration has executed cuts unlawfully and in ways that will derail critical services.

In Washington, DC, during the first of three planned protests, a crowd gathered in front of the headquarters of the US Department of Health and Human Services to hear scientists and politicians speak about the impact of cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Between speakers, the crowd chanted, “Fund, don’t freeze.”

Ian Fucci, a member of the NIH Fellows United union, was one of the first speakers to take the mic. He was terminated from his postdoctoral position at the National Cancer Institute on Saturday and described worrying about how he would support his family and children.

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), whose district is home to several science agency campuses, including the NIH, described talking to constituents who had worked in the civil service for years but had accepted a new position. But anytime a civil servant starts a new role, they must go through a probationary period that can last from one to three years. “They were terminated because they were just promoted because they were doing such a good job,” he said. “That’s cruel.”

The terminations were also “in blatant, flagrant, naked violation of the civil service laws,” Raskin said, because a federal rule enacted by the Biden administration protects civil servants from being fired without just cause. This sentiment has been echoed by federal workers unions across the US who are actively pursuing litigation to block the Trump administration from firing federal employees en masse.

Representative Glenn Ivey (D-MD) and Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) also spoke, emphasizing the importance of federal research. “There’s no sugarcoating this. These cuts will kill more Americans,” Van Hollen said. No other politicians addressed the crowd, and C&EN’s attempts to immediately reach the NIH for comments on the protest were unsuccessful.

Among the crowd listening and cheering were many recently terminated federal employees. One had worked at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, where she had recently started after decades in the private sector; another was an NIH contractor whose work on privacy for human research participants had been halted abruptly on Feb. 5.

Cancer researcher Ellen Bak was fired from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on Saturday. There she had studied hematopoietic stem cells to understand the mechanisms behind various blood cancers. “I love doing that research,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with all this really specialized knowledge if I can’t go back to work in my lab.” She worked at the NCI in Frederick, Maryland, for 5 years and had a little more than a month left in her probationary period after starting a new position.

In New York the same afternoon, researchers gathered in Washington Square Park to protest funding cuts and threats to the future of science and education in the US. The crowd of nearly 150 graduate students, postdocs, and faculty periodically chanted “When research is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.”

Among those in attendance was Jenna Tipaldo, a fourth-year PhD candidate at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. She recently submitted a grant proposal to the NIH to study climate change’s impacts on older adults living in the US. Because the proposal includes the word bias, referring to statistical bias, and funding agencies are flagging words such as biases and biased in their attempt to abide by Trump’s executive order ending government diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, Tipaldo worries her proposal may not be considered.

A biochemistry PhD student from New York University, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, shared similar concerns about grants. Relying on federal funding has “become a very scary position to be in because the grants that support us and our research are seeming to be dwindling by the day,” she said. She was planning to apply for a fellowship aimed at bolstering training for diverse PhD candidates, but now she and her adviser have to make other plans. Participating in public demonstrations was a big step for her. But “I think the time has finally come where I can no longer be silent,” she said.