Updated November 14, 2025 at 5:27 PM CST
Jenna Norton, a program director at the National Institutes of Health, says she has been put on paid leave following the end of the government shutdown.
"I was not given a reason for being put on leave, but I strongly suspect it is because I have been speaking up in my personal capacity about the harms that I have been witnessing inside the National Institutes of Health," she said in a video posted to TikTok.
The notice Norton received from human resources stated that the leave "is not being done for any disciplinary purpose."
She is among a number of federal employees who have been openly critical of the Trump administration, both before and during the 43-day shutdown.
Norton first spoke out in June, when she helped organize a call to action by hundreds of NIH scientists, pushing back against cuts and changes at the agency. They warned the Trump administration was politicizing research and canceling studies, putting the health of participants at risk.
In an interview with NPR in early October, Norton said she believed the Trump administration's deep funding and staffing cuts have created a situation inside NIH that is far worse than the public realizes.
"I feel like I have this front row seat to the destruction of our democracy," she said. "We are seeing it in real time with a president who is asking us to do things that are illegal and harmful to the American public."
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIH, did not respond to NPR's questions about why Norton was placed on leave and instead issued a statement calling her a "radical leftist" who "chooses to constantly criticize this administration, even when she is supposed to be working."
Norton responded on TikTok, saying "If it is radically leftist to believe that NIH policies should not be actively harming research participants, then I will wear the radical left label proudly."
Agriculture Department employee also on leave
On Thursday, the Federal Unionists Network, a coalition of former and current federal workers and union members, announced that an Agriculture Department employee who worked on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) had also been put on leave.
Ellen Mei, who also serves as president of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Chapter 255, received a notice of proposed termination on Oct. 3, a day after she raised concerns about food assistance programs in an interview on MSNBC, according to the Federal Unionists Network.
"I didn't leak secrets or share anything confidential," said Mei in a statement released by the group. "I told the truth about what's happening to hungry families and the people who serve them. I took an oath to serve the public — not to stay quiet while our government turns its back on the American people."
In a statement, a spokesperson for USDA told NPR that the department does not comment on individual personnel matters, adding: "During a lapse in appropriations, furloughed USDA employees are not authorized to perform any official duties, including speaking on behalf of the Department."
MSNBC prefaced Mei's interview by stating that she was not representing the government, but speaking in her own capacity.
A right to speak on matters of public concern
Norton says she believes federal workers not only have a right but an obligation to speak publicly on matters of the public interest.
She points to a 1968 Supreme Court decision that found public employees can speak on matters of public concern as long as the speech doesn't disrupt government operations. She knows federal employees also have whistleblower rights.
"Allowing civil servants to put up a red flag when we're seeing a problem is critical to maintaining our democracy," she told NPR in October. "These civil service protections aren't really about protecting me as a federal worker. They're about protecting our country."
Still, on Friday, Norton told NPR she knew she was putting her job at risk by speaking out.
"I was never under the impression that my rights would be respected," she said. "I also recognized… that if you don't assert your rights because you're afraid or because you're demoralized or for whatever reason, then you've already given them up. You've let them be taken away. And I was determined not to do that."
NPR's Rob Stein contributed to this story.
Copyright 2025 NPR
