Washington: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has reclassified hundreds of employees from permanent to probationary status in a move that violates labor contracts, according to a U.S. lawmaker and an NSF employee. The shift, which took place following President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, was reportedly carried out in response to a directive aimed at reducing the federal workforce.
On the day Trump took office, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) required federal agencies to submit lists of employees who were on probation. The NSF subsequently downgraded the employment status of both union and non-union staff, including executives, without notification, U.S. Representative Don Beyer said. The only indication of the change was a new form added to employees’ personnel files.
Beyer, a Democrat representing northern Virginia, where the NSF is headquartered, warned that the reclassification exposes affected employees to termination without due process. In a letter sent Thursday to NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, Beyer condemned the move.
“I write to express deep concern and outrage over the National Science Foundation’s recent firing of NSF employees and the reclassification of hundreds of employees’ employment status from permanent to a probationary status,” Beyer stated.
An NSF employee with knowledge of the matter, who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation, confirmed that a “significant number” of staff members were impacted.
The NSF dismissed 170 employees on Tuesday, including 86 classified as probationary and 84 designated as experts with appointments of one year or less, spokesperson Mike England said on Friday. The layoffs account for nearly 10% of the agency’s 1,715-person workforce. England also confirmed that NSF had received Beyer’s letter and was preparing a response.
The National Science Foundation is a key funding body for scientific and engineering research across the country, supporting studies on topics ranging from supercomputers to pandemic response. According to its website, the agency processes 40,000 proposals annually and funds approximately 11,000.
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Beyer strongly criticized the layoffs and reclassifications, arguing that they jeopardize the U.S.’s leadership in scientific research.
“It is absurd to mindlessly decimate the workforce that has led the world in science over the past 75 years, and to willingly give up excellent scientists and talent,” he wrote, urging the NSF to reinstate terminated employees and reverse the reclassification.
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In addition to workforce cuts, NSF employees are also reviewing thousands of individual grants to ensure compliance with White House directives on diversity, gender, and climate issues, Beyer and the NSF employee said. According to Beyer, NSF staff were given a list of flagged words—including women, female, Black, and Indigenous—that could trigger grant termination.
Similar language reviews are reportedly underway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to align with Trump’s executive orders.
