Washington (7news) – The National Science Foundation (NSF) marked its 75th anniversary on Saturday after an important announcement affecting its workforce. According to an internal note obtained by 7News, the NSF reduces its temporary workforce by 368 employees to around 70, demanding that all full -time employees return to work in person and eliminating the equity division for excellence in science, technology, engineers and mathematics (STEM).
The memo indicated that certain NSF positions will be reassigned within 30 days. The agency, which supports research and education in all non -medical fields of science and engineering, will spend next month to determine the 70 positions deemed essential.
The leaders of the US Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) shared their response with NSF employees. They accuse the director of management, Micah Cheatham, of “cruelty towards and insensitive contempt” for the employees of the NSF and accuse him of violating the federal law.
The declaration is read in part:
The administration and the CMO Cheatham do not have the legal power to arbitrarily cancel the programs that Congress authorized and funded.
CMO Cheatham already has an illegal action file at the request of the administration. In February, the court ruled that the dismissal of the probationary employees, carried out under the direction of CMO Cheatham, was illegal.
Beyond his desire to violate the law, the duplicity cruelty of CMO Cheatham and the insensitive contempt for people whose livelihoods are compromised reveal a fundamental incapacity to any role supervising the life and work of others.
The member of the Congress Don Beyer (D-VA) signed a letter on behalf of more than 100 representatives to the President expressing their concern concerning the freeze:
The members of the House Science Committee, the representative Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and the representative Brian Babin (R-TX), said that the main mission of the NSF is free from political programs Friday before the agency’s 75th anniversary, saying:
While political debates have often focused on supporting the NSF to the social sciences and the geographic distribution of funding, we must refocus on its main mission: to advance discovery and education without political agendas.
7News contacted the members of the Congress and the NSF to comment and await an answer.