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Scores of National Institutes of Health employees returned to the office Monday morning for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. As they walked into the office, they were met by supporters singing in a chorus, offering thanks and flowers.
Some NIH workers returning Monday teared up as they got off at the Medical Center Metro stop. As they left the escalators, dozens of supporters were waving signs with messages of support, such as “Thank You NIH.” They were also singing in unison.
“Really sweet. Yeah, it’s hard to come back,” one NIH employee, who wanted to remain anonymous, said. “To feel the support, it’s really special.”
Lawrence MacDonald with Third Act helped organize the early morning rally.
“NIH is a global treasure. It is the best medical scientific research organization in the history of the world. It develops new cures and treatments for diseases that are not developed anywhere else in the world. The people who do it are the best educated, best trained scientists in the world, and they are being messed with,” MacDonald said.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, announced it will be laying off 10,000 employees. Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. said the department is an inefficient, sprawling bureaucracy.
“A friend of mine who works for NIH — on the train today, on the way here — she said they’re expecting to get an RIF, reduction in force notice, any day,” MacDonald said.[custom_gallery]
“They’re being called back to the office. They don’t know if they’re going to have computers, they don’t know if they’re going to have desks, and they don’t know when and if they’re going to be fired.”
One young man came out with dozens of tulips and carnations, handing them out to those walking in wearing their federal badges.
“All these people coming to back to work matter, and they’re important,” he said.