27 UNIHTED / NIH Vigils Newsletter 4/5/26

Hi NIH Vigilers and 27 UNIHTED Community,

Happy April!

Calls To Action

Urge the NIH Assembly of Scientists (AOS) to follow Bhattacharya’s commitment to open dialogue by hosting a scientist who supports the animal reservoir COVID origin theory. Bhattacharya’s new “Scientific Freedom Lecture” series started the dialogue by hosting Matt Ridley to discuss the COVID lab leak hypothesis. Contact information for AOS members is available online. 

Impeach Vought Campaign has more than 1,500 signatures! Add your name (or anonymous voice) to the call urging Congress to impeach and convict White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought. Vought’s lawlessness continues to harm the American people by impeding research, allowing big corporations to rip off consumers, privatizing America’s protected lands, and shutting down services Americans need. Thanks to @DrRabbitHole for the amazing art for this campaign! 

Holding space for our RIFed colleagues. NIH was diminished by the loss of thousands of skilled, dedicated professionals on 4/1/25. They remain part of our community. Read and add quotes: https://www.27unihted.org/the-nih-rif

Reach out to your members of Congress and urge them to:

• Support the NIH Fellows Union and the right to Unionize. NIH continues to tell staff the union is null and void, but the union is legally recognized. 

• Introduce legislation to limit multi-year funding at NIH (Vought’s dirty trick to cut the budget for new science).

• Call your state representatives to block the establishment of an ICE detention center in Washington County or elsewhere in Maryland.

Help the NIH Community: Review a resume, host a job workshop, plan a happy hour, volunteer and/or advocate with 27 UNIHTED. Check out the links on our website to take action and volunteer. 

Upcoming Events

27 UNIHTED Events

• Weekly NIH Vigil every Saturday at 10:00 a.m.

• Weekly peer empowerment call every Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

Community Events

• NIH Vigils staple Allstrike to rock out for Easter “Funday” at the Dew Drop Inn in Washington, DC at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 5.  

• Rise Up Frederick’s latest meetup for current and former government workers will be held Monday, April 27 at 6:00 p.m. in the C. Burr Artz Library programming room. Both contractors and FTEs are welcome to this safe space. 

• On Monday, May 4 at noon ET, the Partnership for Public Service will host a free webinar about how to tell your federal workforce story in congressional meetings. Learn more and RSVP here. 

Vigil “Auntie” News

- The Good -

Please join us in welcoming our newest “Vigil Auntie.” Jane Elizabeth was born March 31 to longtime NIH Vigil community members Ian and Julia. 

No (Shadow) Kings in Science. About 8 to 9 million people hit the streets last week to protest this wrecking ball of an administration, including hundreds at the NIH Vigil. Thanks to AllStrike and all our powerful speakers!

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) reauthorization is with the President. SBIR reauthorization is expected by April 14!

OMB Director Vought has agreed to testify before the House Budget Committee on April 15.

- The Bad -

The President’s Budget Request is out. Surprise! It’s more of the same: closing institutes, decreased budget and vilifying DEI & transgender health. Urge your members of Congress to fully fund NIH and stop partisan political interference.  

New NIH policy stops an incentive for grant reviewers, undermining peer review. NIH will no longer accept late submissions from reviewers, a long-standing incentive for those who provide this community service. Loss of this last remaining “perk” will impede reviewer recruitment.

One year of Director Jayanta Bhattacharya has left NIH understaffed, able to fund less research, deeply politicized, and bereft of morale. Bhattacharya marked the anniversary by adding a political speaking tour to his busy podcast schedule, proclaiming the end of  “Tony Fauci’s NIH” at CPAC and touring Penn and Pitt labs with a Republican Senator. He posted on X about his many “successes” while “running” NIH.

An NIH forecast graveyard revealed in analyses by a former NIH program officer. Liz Ginexi has shown that a growing number of NIH funding opportunities are announced and then are quietly never published, limiting NIH’s ability to target new research areas.  

EPA leadership ignored its own lawyers in retaliating against dissenters. Emails show that EPA lawyers warned Director Lee Zeldin that retaliating against EPA dissent letter signers was unlawful. Zeldin retaliated anyway. 

Trump’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology includes only one scientist. In addition to this Nobel laureate the Council comprises 9 billionaires from AI and tech industries.  

Wellness Weekly

Our somewhat serious community recommendations for self care are:

• Learn a new skill

• Turn back time!

• Get out in your garden

Check out our new merch shop!

While we are migrating our store into our new Squarespace storefront, we have a temporary way of purchasing our merchandise through our website! We are in the process of migrating all items, but in the meantime check out our new 27 UNIHTED shirts and bags and NIH Vigil water bottles. 

In solidarity,

27 UNIHTED and NIH Vigils