U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-6), U. S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8) and 20 other Democratic congressmembers sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce expressing “serious concern” following the termination of employees at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg and Colorado.
Delaney is a member of the House of Representative’s Science, Space and Technology committee.
In the letter to Sec. Howard Lutnick, the legislators posed these questions and requested a reply by April 16:
- How will your plan for a reduction in force at NIST affect the agency across mission areas? Please provide details by campus, office, and project. Please include the projected impact on NIST facilities if personnel responsible for utilities and physical maintenance are fired.
- What is the long-term plan to retain scientists and researchers to ensure that research and projects across mission areas are not jeopardized? Please provide details by campus, office, and project.
- How will your plan for a reduction in force at NIST affect the participation of NIST staff in international standards setting? Provide details by standards development organization, leadership positions affected, and topic (e.g., AI standards development in ISO/IEC 42001).
- How will the reduction in force at NIST impact the global arms race in AI, quantum information science, and semiconductor design, development, and production?
“We write to express our serious concern with the Administration’s recent termination of probationary employees and its planned reduction in force (RIF) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),” the legislators wrote.
According to the legislators, more than 70 probationary employees at NIST have been laid off and additional terminations are expected. More than 2,800 federal employees and 3,200 visiting associates work out of NIST’s Gaithersburg campus.
“Removing national and international leaders from the nonpartisan and professional civil service at NIST would hamper the development of critical standards, threaten industrial and consumer safety, and weaken American leadership around the world,” they stated in their April 2 letter.
