ISTANBUL

Hundreds of scientists have been laid off, federal laboratories shuttered, and new research funding halted in the US as the ongoing government shutdown deepens, Nature reported Wednesday.

Federal funding expired on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to reach an agreement over health care subsidies, leading to a nationwide halt in scientific and health-related operations.

Since the start of the shutdown, funding for clean energy research has been canceled, public health workers have been dismissed, and grant applications for federally funded museums and research institutions have been suspended.

- Layoffs and grant cuts

The Trump administration cited the absence of a spending bill as grounds for laying off between 4,100 and 4,200 federal employees under its reduction in force (RIF) policy. Unions are preparing lawsuits to contest the dismissals.

As of Oct. 8, about 1,300 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—a public health protection agency under the Department of Defense—had received RIF notices.

The department said affected employees had been classified as “non-essential” and added that it would continue closing “wasteful and duplicative” entities.

The Department of Energy has withdrawn roughly $7.6 billion from 223 energy projects, most of which reportedly focus on renewable energy research, while the Department of Defense plans to redirect $8 billion from its research and development budget to pay salaries of workers affected by the shutdown.

The Smithsonian Institution has closed several of its museums and research centers, including a coastal biology facility in Maryland, due to financial strain.

- Funding shortages expected to continue

“The longer this goes on, the deeper the cuts are going to be,” US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on Sunday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned on Monday: “We’re barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history, unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass a clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government.”

The longest government shutdown in US history lasted 35 days in 2019.