NIH Program Director Jenna Norton Placed on Leave After Criticizing Trump Funding Cuts

NIH program director Jenna Norton was placed on paid administrative leave on November 14, 2025 with no stated reason, shortly after the government shutdown ended. Norton had been an outspoken critic of Trump's NIH funding cuts and mass firings since June 2025, helping organize hundreds of NIH scientists. HHS called her a "radical leftist" rather than addressing the leave's basis.