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Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

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Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#41

Post by andyjohnson0 »

dubcanada wrote: post #4

[flagged]

I didn't submit this article, but I did vouch for it. I wouldn't normally do either for a political article.

The lay-offs are apparently not just affecting health agencies but are across the entire range of US government agencies, and are extensive. This will affect a great many people, and I feel very sad for their predicament - but it will also affect the regulatory, economic, and public policy environment in the US, as well as US government funded technology and research. Many people who use this site will be affected, directly or indirectly. As will many of the companies that they work for.

So, apart from the awful human cost, I believe the article is HN-relevant.

Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#43

Post by frigidwalnut »

dubcanada wrote: post #4

[flagged]

Hello, I submitted this. Thanks for your concern. I've been lurking on Hacker News since ~2014 when I was in college. I made an account and started posting because people on the board have something of an interest in biology and genetics (for example this story on cancer detection from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43035147 ) and I wanted to contribute. I posted this because the NIH funds a lot of research related to that and this story reports on a massive change to the NIH, which seemed worthy of discussion.

Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#44

Post by analog31 »

dubcanada wrote: post #31
csoups14 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're supposed to withhold judgment on somebody who has directly led to the deaths of several dozen children? Are you really implying there is no one who is better qualified to lead HHS?

Does it sound like I am suggesting that? That's certainly not my question. I don't think RFK should be anywhere near anything. But he is. So the only option is to accept that, and hold off judging someone until bad policies are released. It's entirely possible RFK feels extreme regret for such incident and wishes to help prevent it from happening again. It's also entirely possible RFK will do a decent job, just like…

We can always update our priors if we're proven wrong about these people. What's wrong with having expectations?

Somebody must have had an expectation, otherwise how were they selected? Why do we keep hearing over and over that they need forgiveness?

Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#45

Post by Eddy_Viscosity2 »

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #39
sundaeofshock wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s hold off on judging the bull we just released in the china shop unitl he has time to wander around in there for a while.

That's an interesting analogy. If I recall correctly, Mythbusters put a bull in a china shop and found that the bull avoided the shelves and didn't break anything.

But this is an RFK analogy, so its more likely he'd decapitate the bull with a chainsaw then dump its body in central park.

Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#46

Post by nickthegreek »

bloopernova wrote: post #15

Could someone with an economics background comment on what effects may occur after having a quarter million people out of work at the same time?

Virginia will be the place to watch. Northern Virginia is the home to many federal workers. Over 145k federal civilian employees not to mention contractors.

https://virginiamercury.com/2025/02/05/virginia-moves-to-pro...

Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#47

Post by silexia »

We need to change the laws making it difficult to fire federal employees, so that we can fire low performers instead of just based on seniority. Previous corrupt laws were passed to only allow firing junior employees, not senior. So this is the only way to shrink the federal government at this point.

Make the federal government accountable and allow terminations based on performance.

Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#48

Post by dragonwriter »

silexia wrote: post #47

We need to change the laws making it difficult to fire federal employees, so that we can fire low performers instead of just based on seniority. Previous corrupt laws were passed to only allow firing junior employees, not senior. So this is the only way to shrink the federal government at this point. Make the federal government accountable and allow terminations based on performance.

> We need to change the laws making it difficult to fire federal employees, so that we can fire low performers instead of just based on seniority.

Documented individual bad performance and misconduct are the (only, basically) reasons firing nonprobationary civil servants on an individual basis is allowed, seniority is an issue with general reductions in force because of elimination of functions, but isn't the controlling factor in for cause, performance or misconduct, firings.

It is, however, illegal to fire civil servants arbitrarily and invoke notional “bad performance” as an excuse; unlike in the private sector, there is a defined process that has the force of law and Constitutional due process rights behind it.

Re: Trump administration to fire thousands at health agencies

#49

Post by scarecrowbob »

dubcanada wrote: post #14
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a blood bath. > As for the CDC being gutted, better hope these bird flu and measles outbreaks don't do a covid. With RFK in the lead would it honestly matter how many staff they have?

Dude has been department head for a day? Do we have such little faith that we judge a person before a single stroke of the pen? While historical actions do speak loud, having a bad past does not mean you are a bad person. Nor does it mean your policies will reflect your personal beliefs. There have been tons of individuals who set aside their beliefs and done a fantastic job.

"Do we have such little faith that we judge a person before a single stroke of the pen?"

Yes.

It's not like he hasn't got a massive body of public statements to read. I mean, I understand that people in gov think we are all dumb enough that we think he's "pro-vaccine" no, somehow despite his toddler merch.

I mean, sometimes I think I am dumb too, especially when I respond to folks on this site. But yeah, most folks here aren't so dumb they can't tell what RFK will probably do based on his long public record of saying dumb stuff.

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