Mass Layoffs as Agencies Are Gutted

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The Food and Drug Administration offices in White Oak, Md. Senior leaders at the F.D.A. were pushed out and offices focused on food, drug and medical device policy were hit with deep staff reductions amounting to about 3,500 employees.Credit…Andrew Mangum for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Thousands Are Laid Off at U.S. Health Agencies” (news article, April 2):

The National Institutes of Health saved my life 30 years ago.

Back then, on the eve of my wedding to my second husband, I was diagnosed with what was considered an untreatable form of leukemia. Luckily for me I found out about a clinical trial at the N.I.H. for a new drug to treat my leukemia. I was admitted to that trial, and it saved my life. Thanks to the N.I.H. I will be able to attend my granddaughter’s college graduation.

The current presidential administration’s cuts to the N.I.H. budget and other similar interventions will cost our country many lives, an untenable price to pay.

Shame on those officials, and those who elected them.

Linda Brandt Myers
Boston

To the Editor:

As a retired human resources executive with 56 years in the profession, I find the mass terminations being implemented by the duo of President Trump and Elon Musk to be deplorable.

Having led numerous reductions in force, I know the value of positive H.R. practices, which include proper and professional notification of a termination, empathy and compassion in the process, and re-employment assistance to help minimize the financial impact on affected employees and their families.

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The Trump-Musk mass terminations are inconsistent with any positive and professional H.R. practices. The employees who are retained will be nonproductive and angry as they observe the horrific treatment of their colleagues. Employee morale will decline, and U.S. government positions will no longer be appealing to applicants.

Bernie Kulchin
San Diego

To the Editor:

I swore oaths upon entering both the military and the federal Civil Service to support and defend our Constitution, and served our country in an agency filled with dedicated employees. It is like a stab in the heart to hear politicians denigrate the work of civil servants like us.