Washington DC - Messages sent out by the National Institutes of (NIH) on Thursday revealed that the agency will roll back orders from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and manage its own affairs.
The message strongly indicates that NIH director Jay Bhattacharya (pictured) is unwilling to work with Elon Musk. © AFP/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
NIH employees were instructed to ignore DOGE directives and even emails from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate worker productivity and limit purchases on company cards.
"Please disregard any future reminders or instructions on this directive from OPM or the Department of Health and Human Services," one message .
"NIH manages its own performance review processes and will notify employees directly if any information related to work duties or performance is needed."
While RFK Jr. has remained mute on the subject of DOGE interference at the HHS and its related agencies, the message strongly indicates that NIH director Jay Bhattacharya is unwilling to work with Musk.
Under the newly announced policy, NIH purchasing cards will be restored to full use and staff will be permitted once again to travel for business.
DOGE has significantly stymied the ability of the NIH to manage its own affairs, limiting purchases on cards to $1 and limiting staff's abilities to cooperate across borders on research.
Musk, an unelected tech billionaire, has sought to damage the NIH with cuts and summarizing the work they do in five bullet points. If someone failed to send such a message, they were threatened with termination.
This is but another form of backlash against Musk's behavior at DOGE, which and has seen within the Trump administration.
