On Monday, June 9, 2025, 342 employees of the Bethesda, Maryland-based National Institutes of Health released a letter written to NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, expressing widespread dissent to the policies being implemented by him under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Writers of the letter, which they called the “Bethesda Declaration,” objected to policy shifts they said prioritized political motives over human safety and responsible handling of public resources.
The signatories expressed dismay about mass firings of thousands of staffers, cancellation of billions of dollars in grants, and seemingly arbitrary halting of clinical trials already well underway. That the decisions seemed based solely on political preference, rather than NIH staff input or scientific benefit, is particularly galling to them.
They felt their research was being censored, especially if it addressed: health disparities NIH and HHS leaders have “mislabeled ‘Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)’”; COVID-19, long COVID, and immunizations; health impacts of climate change; gender identity, sexual health, and intersex people, and more. Arguing that this leaves vulnerable populations at medical and mental health risk, the signatories also pointed out the tremendous waste these abrupt terminations create — ironic, given their stated purpose is allegedly to save money and eliminate waste.
“Since January 20, 2025, NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totaling around $9.5 billion and $2.6 billion in contracts. This undercuts long-standing NIH policies designed to maximize return on investment by working with grantees to address concerns and complete studies. Many terminations contradict federal regulations that mandate protections for research participants and require grant awards to specify potential termination reasons.“
– The Bethesda Declaration
The letter contends that ending a $5 million study when it is 80% complete wastes $4 million, rather than saves $1 million. The writers urge Bhattacharya to restore research funding that has been ended for political reasons so it can be completed.
Signatories also expressed concern about interrupting and even dissolving collaboration with foreign institutions. They challenged NIH leadership’s abandonment of peer review in favor of catering to “political whims,” causing funding to be redirected to unvetted projects NIH staff considers of questionable value.
The letter-writers objected to an arbitrary 15% cap on indirect costs, rather than the previously established practiced policy of using indirect rates that consider actual costs incurred by the research institutions conducting the studies.
They reminded Bhattacharya of his legal obligation to use the funds appropriated by Congress for the NIH research it was intended. Signatories asserted their devotion to the NIH’s mission “to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability,” and reminded the director of his comments during his confirmation hearing supporting research that is “vital to our country’s future and, indeed, the world’s.”
While the letter boasted more than 300 signatures, only around 100 signed their names and the rest signed anonymously for fear of reprisal from the Trump administration. The letter was also sent to Kennedy and members of Congress who oversee the NIH.
A second open letter was posted to support the Bethesda Declaration with more than 2,300 signatures of people who were not members of the NIH. While more than 500 of the signatories chose to remain anonymous, the signers who openly supported the declaration included 21 Nobel laureates in a wide span of scientific fields; former NIH officials; former presidents of universities; practicing doctors, nurses, and researchers; and citizens who chose to include only their names.
Both the declaration and the open letter of support were posted by Stand up for Science, a nonprofit created in February 2025 whose goals include ending censorship and political interference in science, securing and expanding scientific funding, and defending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in science.
Bhattacharya, who assumed the role of NIH director on April 1, 2025, responded to the Bethesda Declaration with a short statement in which he said he welcomed dissent but also disputed their assertions.
“The Bethesda Declaration has some fundamental misconceptions about the policy directions the NIH has taken in recent months, including the continuing support of the NIH for international collaboration,” Bhattacharya said. “Nevertheless, respectful dissent in science is productive. We all want the NIH to succeed.”
An HHS spokesperson was more specific in answering the charges leveled in the NIH staffers’ letter, saying they were doing the exact opposite of what the NIH letter charged: “actively working to remove ideological influence from the scientific process.” They insisted projects have only been halted based on scientific merit or lack thereof.
The spokesperson also denied “legitimate international collaborations” have been halted, only that all have faced “scrutiny” to ensure accountability and “basic fiduciary responsibility.” They compared current NIH foreign collaborations to a mechanic outsourcing brake repairs but refusing to say to whom.
“[W]ould you trust them with your car again?” asked the spokesperson. “Of course not. The same logic applies here: we must know where public funds go and who is responsible for the work.” This implies the NIH has not been transparent about with whom it partnered abroad.
They chalked up the peer review dispute to a misunderstanding over the publication process and insisted that capping overhead rates at 15% was fair and even standard across the industry.
Regarding mass layoffs, the NIH spokesperson said, “We are reviewing each case of termination to ensure appropriateness, and we’ve already reinstated some individuals. Still, as NIH priorities evolve, so must our staffing model to ensure alignment with our central mission and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
However, they did not address the human and scientific toll on sudden firings, rehirings, indefinite interruptions to research experiments, and the surrounding uncertainty.
In February, the Trump administration cut around 1,200 jobs at the NIH, and NPR reported that the NIH office in charge of responding to FOIA requests has also been eliminated.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have responded to NIH concerns in the Bethesda Declaration by requesting a hearing with Bhattacharya. On the same day the declaration was released, 14 lawmakers wrote to Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, with the request. Led by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), authors of the letter from lawmakers cited the NIH’s leadership in the world’s scientific community and Congress’s constitutional responsibility to oversee spending and executive actions that interfere with missions of agencies established by Congress.
“The current trajectory of NIH under the Trump administration is alarming, marked by political interference, anti-science rhetoric, and destabilizing personnel and funding decisions,” the lawmakers wrote. “It is critical the Energy & Commerce Committee convene a hearing with Director Bhattacharya to examine these actions and assess whether the NIH remains equipped to serve the American people and maintain its leadership in global biomedical research. We are deeply concerned the disruption at NIH and our biomedical research enterprise will have untold costs in terms of lost innovation and treatments and cures for the American people.”
Additionally, Energy and Commerce Committee Democratic leaders sent a letter to both Bhattacharya and Kennedy reminding them and the Trump administration that retaliation against any of the 342 NIH staff is illegal.
“[A]ny attempt by HHS, NIH, or any other federal entity to retaliate against any of the letter’s signatories would be illegal,” that letter states. “The Whistleblower Protection Act protects individuals like the signers of the Bethesda Declaration who provide information to Congress and others about gross mismanagement, gross waste of federal funds, abuse of authority, and danger to public health and safety.”
It is signed by Full Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY). It closes by requesting they provide written assurances that neither they nor anyone at HHS or NIH will engage in retaliation against the whistleblowers for their disclosures in the Bethesda Declaration.
In the Senate on Tuesday, Bhattacharya faced questioning from Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on plans to slash the NIH budget by 40%, or approximately $18 billion. She asked him if more clinical trials would be conducted under those circumstances, and he said, “It seems unlikely.”
When she asked him to name the clinical trials that had been impacted by the cuts already made, he was unable to do so. She reminded him.
“On May 30, you terminated a 23-year research effort to develop an HIV vaccine,” Murray told him. “Just as scientists, including at the Fred Hutch Center in Seattle, are on the cusp of a functional cure for HIV. Terminating those HIV vaccine trials now cuts off access to treatment for 6,000 patients in the network.”
Murray outlined two more canceled trials, including one for evidenced-based interventions for people with type 2 diabetes in rural communities, and one for treatment for women with recurrent ovarian cancer. When she again asked him to cite which other trials he proposed to cut, he said it was a hypothetical question he could not answer.
“You came here to ask for a budget that reduces NIH significantly,” Murray said. “I would expect as Director you would know what the impacts are. We need to know what the impacts are in order to fund that budget.”
Watch his exchange with Sen. Murray below.
NIH uses its grants to push Big Pharma agenda. None of these grants result in cures. Big Pharma needs to be accountable for the 300,000 killed every year by their products. Fauci used his grants to create the covid19. He created AIDs! He created Ebola! Stop with the lies. NIH is corrupt and needs to be gutted.