NIH director bemoans RIFs, mocks ‘5 things’ email and says agency shoulders blame for COVID outbreak in first address

The National Institutes of Health may soon unwind some of its widespread layoffs, the agency’s new director said in his first town hall address to employees, during which he questioned the organization’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic and whether it should conduct research related to racism. 

Jay Bhattacharya, President Trump’s pick to lead the agency who was confirmed to the role in March, said he did not play a role in the recent layoffs of 1,200 NIH employees. The reductions in force went into effect on the day of his swearing in, but Bhattacharya said he had no input on them. The director expressed remorse that he was not able to weigh in on those cuts, according to employees present for the meeting. 

He added that he hopes to bring people back from RIFs as needed, including those working in contracting. Bhattacharya noted there is a shortage of supplies at labs and medical centers and he is working to correct that. In his fiscal 2026 budget, President Trump proposed slashing NIH funding by around 40%. 

NIH has also recalled employees on a limited basis, according to an official there, but has required that a new RIF for each person brought back so the total impacted would remain unchanged.

Early in his presentation, according to employees who tuned into the talk, a small group of employees stood and walked out. Bhattacharya acknowledged the group and said dissent was welcome. 

The director mocked the previously required email in which employees throughout government were required to submit five things they had worked on the prior week, calling it silly and unnecessary. NIH has not required that email, first instituted by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, of employees in several weeks.

Bhattacharya suggested he and others believed NIH-funded research may have contributed to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns throughout the country. The director alluded to the theory that the virus originated from a laboratory in China and subsequently “leaked” to the general public, a view backed by President Trump and his administration. It was supported by the FBI but has received pushback from other intelligence agencies and international scientific organizations. 

The NIH chief addressed the COVID-19 origins while laying out his top priorities for the agency, one of which was research safety and transparency. 

Bhattacharya was asked about structural racism and said NIH should not conduct any research that advances an ideology, adding the question may not be scientific in nature. Research projects at NIH must be replicable and able to be disproven, he said. NIH has canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in grants since Trump took office because they were deemed related to diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Employees submitted 1,200 questions for the town hall, according to Seana Cranston, NIH’s chief of staff, though Bhattacharya only answered a handful. They greeted the director, a sharp critic of the agency he now leads during the pandemic while serving as a professor at Stanford University, apprehensively. Employees described Bhattacharya as nervous during his presentation, particularly when he came out to silence rather than the usual applause.