WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) led nine Congressional colleagues in a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding the immediate reinstatement of illegally fired federal workers within the agency, including scientists and researchers working on treatments and cures for the most serious diseases Americans face.
“Without immediate action, the harmful consequences of this outrageous purge will be with us for decades to come as the fired employees are forced to find new careers outside of their chosen field: medical research for the public good,” the lawmakers wrote. “Patients suffering from conditions including pediatric cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), heart disease, and cystic fibrosis will bear the consequences of your actions.”
“For the sake of all current and future patients who are depending on these new cures and treatments, we urge you to immediately reverse course and reinstate HHS’s probationary employees,” the lawmakers continued.
The letter contains anonymized testimony from Rep. Raskin’s constituents who were fired from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), both of which are sub-agencies of HHS. Rep. Raskin is proud to represent nearly 60,000 federal workers in Maryland’s Eighth Congressional District.
Rep. Raskin also announced today that he will bring fired NIH cancer researcher and constituent, Dr. Lauren McGee, to the Joint Address to Congress. A biologist researching pediatric and canine osteosarcoma at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Cancer Institute (NCI) who received a perfect performance evaluation, Dr. McGee was fired in February alongside thousands of employees throughout HHS and the federal government.
Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Representatives Don Beyer (VA-08), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) and Eugene Vindman (VA-07) also signed the letter.
Read the full letter here.
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