Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names.
‘The Federal Government’s Loss Is the County’s Gain’
I wanted to thank Rachana Pradhan and Katheryn Houghton for their coverage of the loss of staff at the National Institutes of Health (“Six Federal Scientists Run Out by Trump Talk About the Work Left Undone,” March 6). In December 2024, I had accepted a tentative job offer for a dream job at NIH after eight years of being a federal contractor supporting data science work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Global Health Center and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases during the covid response, and later with the U.S. Agency for International Development, where I supported HIV program monitoring and response data visualization.
On Jan. 10, 2025, I went to the Bethesda campus to get my badge photo taken and my fingerprints documented. The next week, I received confirmation that I would soon receive my final salary offer. But on Jan. 20, an email informed me that, due to the federal hiring freeze, my job had been canceled. I was devastated. I reached out and thanked everyone who had been helping bring me on board, but I never heard back. I can only imagine how chaotic it was for them on the inside.
I was fortunate to have not yet left my job as a contractor, but …