While Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Gen-Z-aged software programmers are firing federal employees (including veterans), a computer code appears to have been responsible for the laying off of 30 medical-related employees, including more than 10 laboratory leaders, at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). NINDS’ office of Human Resources scrambled to quickly re-hire the wrongly fired staff this week after a coding error mislabeled employees with incorrect position codes.
“NIH leadership has informed us that the individuals below should be contacted ASAP and told immediately return to work,” the HR email stated. Among reinstated employees are three senior scientists and staff in the Office of Research Training and Career Development, as well as people in the Office of the Scientific Director and facilities. One of the employees also included Richard Youle, who claimed a 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences after showing how clearing out damaged organelles discourages Parkinson’s disease.
“I am infuriated at the inefficiency of the time wasted by staff running around having to respond to these events, heartbroken for the emotional cost for hardworking, dedicated civil servants and scientific trainees just starting their careers,” an anonymous NINDS employee told The Transmitter.
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These 30 individuals are just a few of about 10,000 federal workers hit with reduction-in-force notices after Department of Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced an administrative overhaul. This includes more than 1,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) probationary employees receiving termination notices in February. The agency later walked back some of those dismissals as well.
Kennedy’s blanket purge is impacting many government facets connected to public health. CBS News recently reported that at least two-thirds of National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) staff expected to be removed as part of Kennedy’s “restructuring” effort, despite Congress being the creating authority in the 1970s. The expulsions ended"health hazard evaluation" probes within the agency while other health-related layoffs are threatening life-saving studies and services, say critics.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) slammed Kennedy today over layoffs that included employees who’d worked with survivors and first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack. Schumer said Kennedy had broken his commitment “to strengthen the health programs in a meeting with senators” prior to his confirmation as Health and Human Services secretary.
Republican politicians who advocated support for blanket lay-offs and the administration behind them are findingstrong opposition at public meetings and events. After a wave of argument and hostility, some GOP members are even declining public engagements. President Donald Trump himself may be toying with the possibility of pulling Elon Musk’s controversial DOGE project.
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