Originally published What it is like to be a federal employee in 2025 on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2025/06/what-it-is-like-to-be-a-federal-employee-in-2025/ at Federal News Network
I remember driving with my father down Rockville Pike in Bethesda, Maryland as a little girl. We would pass a large campus of impressive buildings called the National Institutes of Health. I told my dad I would work there one day. He said no, that place was for doctors and scientists. I knew I would find a way.
Many years later, I did. In March 2008, I began my journey at NIH, working with several institutes until I found my home at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. I started in the Division of Translational Research, then moved to the Division of Clinical Research, where I remain today.
How proud I have been to work alongside titans of the scientific community. Dr. Francis Collins, physician and former director of the National Institutes of Health and the National Human Genome Research Institute, led the NIH with vision, dedication and hope. Dr. Anthony Fauci, physician and immunologist, served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to seven different presidential administrations.
NIH scientists have made major contributions to health and medical science for over 100 years, including 163 Nobel laureates, 214 winners of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and more than 200 members of the U.S. National Academies of Science and Medicine. Non-scientists like myself are essential to NIH’s day-to-day operations and key to understanding the institution’s history and mission. It had been the happiest and proudest time in my long career.
Everything changed in 2025.
The Trump administration cut billions of dollars in biomedical research funding, resulting in dire consequences for the scientific research community, including universities and medical centers. This action has crippled lifesaving research and innovation. I was once so proud to say I worked for the world’s premier biomedical research facility. All of that has changed.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives were scrubbed away at the direction of this new administration, as though they were dirty words. Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency and put Elon Musk at its head. In record time, Musk moved from disrupting social media and automotive industries to targeting the federal government itself.
The indignities were swift and demoralizing. We were required to provide weekly accounts of “five things” we accomplished, as though our decades of service meant nothing. They dictated what we could use in our email signatures and instilled paranoia in every aspect of our jobs — all with the support of the man elected to lead our country.
In a shocking turn of events, Musk shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. The impact was immediate: food and crucial medications abandoned in warehouses, vital programs closed, workers laid off. The U.S. government, once known for humanitarian assistance, quickly transformed into something unrecognizable. It is estimated that over 300,000 people, including children, have died because of this decision. But that would not be their worst offense.
The Trump administration canceled grants at NIH, fired intramural researchers, and planned to cut billions in indirect costs. What they fail to understand is that federal funding for biomedical research is central to healthcare innovation. The dismantling of this once-great institution will adversely affect American and global lives for years to come. They stripped away vital departments like human resources and acquisitions. There is no one to answer personnel questions, and we are expected to perform without basic supplies. This is not a well-thought-out plan, but something executed with malice by an organization supposedly focused on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.
On February 14, 2025, scientists and medical researchers began to be dismissed by President Trump’s administration. They were told it was due to probationary status and poor job performance. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know because one of them was my son.
This is as much his story as mine. He worked as a contractor for nearly twenty years at NIH, helping to run a lab at the National Cancer Institute. He devoted himself to cancer research after watching my father die from lung and brain cancer. While not a scientist himself, he was popular, well-respected and beloved for his hard work and dedication.
Less than two years ago, in recognition for his service, he was converted from contractor to federal employee. We were so proud. On a day ironically devoted to love, my son was yanked from the position he cared about and discarded like garbage. He was a dedicated worker with the highest possible rating on his yearly performance appraisals. His staff and senior leadership were shocked, dismayed and bereft at losing such an important team member.
My son delivered this news with a crack in his voice, something that will bring any mother to her knees. He felt as though a piece of his soul was destroyed. He immediately filed an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board. Four months later, he has heard nothing.
For these four months, my once cheerful, talkative son has become withdrawn, sad and rightfully prone to despair. He describes his treatment as diminishing, brutal and humiliating. Initially, he kept in constant contact with his former team, who continue to support and miss him. Now, we have agreed never to speak of NIH or the current administration as it is simply too much to bear.
The National Institutes of Health limps along on invisible crutches, its significance on life support, its staff feeling diminished, dazed and confused. When this madness will end is anyone’s guess. With the Department of Health and Human Services under Robert Kennedy Jr.’s direction and our country steered by leaders who seem intent on destruction rather than progress, there is little to hope for.
They say that change and grief are cousins. Indeed, they are inseparable companions in these dark times for federal service and scientific advancement.
Originally published What it is like to be a federal employee in 2025 on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2025/06/what-it-is-like-to-be-a-federal-employee-in-2025/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Things to consider when the federal government offers you your job
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What it is like to be a federal employee in 2025
Originally published What it is like to be a federal employee in 2025 on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2025/06/what-it-is-like-to-be-a-federal-employee-in-2025/ at Federal News Network
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Trump-NIH_Director_99816-1024x683.jpgI remember driving with my father down Rockville Pike in Bethesda, Maryland as a little girl. We would pass a large campus of impressive buildings called the National Institutes of Health. I told my dad I would work there one day. He said no, that place was for doctors and scientists. I knew I would find a way.
Many years later, I did. In March 2008, I began my journey at NIH, working with several institutes until I found my home at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. I started in the Division of Translational Research, then moved to the Division of Clinical Research, where I remain today.
How proud I have been to work alongside titans of the scientific community. Dr. Francis Collins, physician and former director of the National Institutes of Health and the National Human Genome Research Institute, led the NIH with vision, dedication and hope. Dr. Anthony Fauci, physician and immunologist, served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to seven different presidential administrations.
NIH scientists have made major contributions to health and medical science for over 100 years, including 163 Nobel laureates, 214 winners of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and more than 200 members of the U.S. National Academies of Science and Medicine. Non-scientists like myself are essential to NIH’s day-to-day operations and key to understanding the institution’s history and mission. It had been the happiest and proudest time in my long career.
Everything changed in 2025.
The Trump administration cut billions of dollars in biomedical research funding, resulting in dire consequences for the scientific research community, including universities and medical centers. This action has crippled lifesaving research and innovation. I was once so proud to say I worked for the world’s premier biomedical research facility. All of that has changed.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives were scrubbed away at the direction of this new administration, as though they were dirty words. Donald Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency and put Elon Musk at its head. In record time, Musk moved from disrupting social media and automotive industries to targeting the federal government itself.
The indignities were swift and demoralizing. We were required to provide weekly accounts of “five things” we accomplished, as though our decades of service meant nothing. They dictated what we could use in our email signatures and instilled paranoia in every aspect of our jobs — all with the support of the man elected to lead our country.
In a shocking turn of events, Musk shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development. The impact was immediate: food and crucial medications abandoned in warehouses, vital programs closed, workers laid off. The U.S. government, once known for humanitarian assistance, quickly transformed into something unrecognizable. It is estimated that over 300,000 people, including children, have died because of this decision. But that would not be their worst offense.
The Trump administration canceled grants at NIH, fired intramural researchers, and planned to cut billions in indirect costs. What they fail to understand is that federal funding for biomedical research is central to healthcare innovation. The dismantling of this once-great institution will adversely affect American and global lives for years to come. They stripped away vital departments like human resources and acquisitions. There is no one to answer personnel questions, and we are expected to perform without basic supplies. This is not a well-thought-out plan, but something executed with malice by an organization supposedly focused on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.
On February 14, 2025, scientists and medical researchers began to be dismissed by President Trump’s administration. They were told it was due to probationary status and poor job performance. Nothing could be further from the truth. I know because one of them was my son.
This is as much his story as mine. He worked as a contractor for nearly twenty years at NIH, helping to run a lab at the National Cancer Institute. He devoted himself to cancer research after watching my father die from lung and brain cancer. While not a scientist himself, he was popular, well-respected and beloved for his hard work and dedication.
Less than two years ago, in recognition for his service, he was converted from contractor to federal employee. We were so proud. On a day ironically devoted to love, my son was yanked from the position he cared about and discarded like garbage. He was a dedicated worker with the highest possible rating on his yearly performance appraisals. His staff and senior leadership were shocked, dismayed and bereft at losing such an important team member.
My son delivered this news with a crack in his voice, something that will bring any mother to her knees. He felt as though a piece of his soul was destroyed. He immediately filed an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board. Four months later, he has heard nothing.
For these four months, my once cheerful, talkative son has become withdrawn, sad and rightfully prone to despair. He describes his treatment as diminishing, brutal and humiliating. Initially, he kept in constant contact with his former team, who continue to support and miss him. Now, we have agreed never to speak of NIH or the current administration as it is simply too much to bear.
The National Institutes of Health limps along on invisible crutches, its significance on life support, its staff feeling diminished, dazed and confused. When this madness will end is anyone’s guess. With the Department of Health and Human Services under Robert Kennedy Jr.’s direction and our country steered by leaders who seem intent on destruction rather than progress, there is little to hope for.
They say that change and grief are cousins. Indeed, they are inseparable companions in these dark times for federal service and scientific advancement.
-A federal employee
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Originally published What it is like to be a federal employee in 2025 on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2025/06/what-it-is-like-to-be-a-federal-employee-in-2025/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Federal News Network
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