Since President Trump Took Office, Hundreds of These Experts Have Been Dismissed

The federal government recruits top experts to volunteer to advise on pressing research issues of the day. Since President Trump took office, hundreds of these experts have been dismissed. Netia McCray recalls how excited she was to join the federal advisory committee on long COVID in 2025. She had been diagnosed in the early days of the pandemic — and symptoms such as fatigue, heart palpitations and shortness of breath had become a frustrating but inescapable part of life.

By joining this group of doctors, researchers and other experts advising on the disease, McCray, 36, had hoped to channel her years of experience as a long-COVID patient into something that could benefit so many individuals like myself and my community, she says. The work, she felt, could make her part of the solution for a debilitating condition that impacts millions of Americans.