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Joshua Weitz

@joshuasweitz.bsky.social

9.5K followers 2.8K following 1.8K posts

Professor of Biology & Institute for Health Computing, U of Maryland; explores how viruses impact human and environmental health; 'Asymptomatic' (JHU Press, 10/2024) & 'Quantitative Biosciences' (Princeton U Press, 3/2024) & 'Science Matters' substack. .. more

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Joshua S. Weitz is an American biologist. He is both a professor of biology and the Clark Leadership Chair in Data Analytics at the University of Maryland. Previously, he was a professor at Georgia Tech, where he was the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences. In 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. .. more

Biology 28%

Environmental science 26%

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 18d

New from #SCIMaP - analysis of the White House’s Proposed FY 2026 National Science Foundation Budget.

Take-home: Slashing NSF by >50% will lead to ~$11 billion in economic loss and extensive job loss and reduced training opportunities in communities nationwide.

Report: osf.io/e8rnc

a 🧵

Economic loss from the White House's NSF FY 2026 Proposed Budget

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 2h

My longer form take on what this means...

"With Malice Toward All and Charity for None"
substack.com/home/post/p-...

With Malice Toward All and Charity for None: Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition

A post interpreting the Friday night firing of more than 1,000 CDC experts only to have some of these layoffs termed an ‘error’ & reversed on Saturday night.

substack.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 2h

For now, the admin will keep undermining our medical research and health institutions, because the hard work of discovery, disease prevention, and establishing evidence-to-recommendation pathways runs counter to their preferred approach: fit the data to the preferred narrative.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 2h

Friday night: ~1,250 fired in CDC, immediate pushback.

Saturday: administration says layoffs were in 'error'.

*But* does not specify how many.

Now, @axios.com reports ~600 remain RIFed by an admin that blends incompetence & malice to public health.

Mismanagement should have consequences.

Axios @axios.com · 2h

About 600 CDC staff in offices dealing with health statistics, injury and violence prevention, congressional outreach and human resources are out of work as a result of the Trump administration's mass layoffs of agency workers Friday, sources familiar said.

CDC purge hits 600 workers in key offices despite reversals

The casualties include employees working on health statistics, injury and violence prevention, congressional outreach and human resources.

www.axios.com

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Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

Axios @axios.com · 2h

CDC purge hits 600 workers in key offices despite reversals

The casualties include employees working on health statistics, injury and violence prevention, congressional outreach and human resources.

www.axios.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 7h

My take from last night...

The administration operates with equal parts malice and incompetence, but the incompetence ends up being a form of malice, so on balance, it’s mostly malice towards all and charity for none.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

With Malice Toward All and Charity for None: Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition

A post interpreting the Friday night firing of more than 1,000 CDC experts only to have some of these layoffs termed an ‘error’ & reversed on Saturday night.

substack.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 9h

On the firing and (partial) unfiring of CDC experts by an administration that uses RIFs as political retribution with blatant disregard for agency missions. It is the kind of error that should have political consequences.

Unserious people cause real-world harm:
substack.com/home/post/p-...

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 12h

www.merkley.senate.gov/schumer-merk...

Schumer, Merkley, Murray, Peters Call On Trump Budget Chief Russ Vought To Resign - Merkley

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and US Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice-Chair of the Senat...

www.merkley.senate.gov

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 12h

What did the administration know and when did it know it?

🎁
wapo.st/4obpCs7

The government isn’t releasing economic data. Private firms are stepping in.

The government shutdown has prompted private firms to release their own economic data, filling a gap left by the absence of official figures.

wapo.st

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 12h

Announcing on Friday "The RIFs have begun" only to unfire some (but not all) that were fired as a form of stochastic chaos management intended to harm and traumatize (his words) federal workers, it would seem that the Office of Management and Budget has government dismantling as a goal.

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 12h

Sens. Schumer, Merkley, Murray, and Peters are calling for the resignation of OMB Director Russell Vought.

"By impounding billions of dollars … and aggressively pursuing the illegal use of pocket rescissions, Vought has done everything in his power to gut the federal government piece by piece."

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Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 12h

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Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz

NPR @npr.org · 13h

The Smithsonian's museums and zoo are now closed due to the government shut down. Tours of historic Washington, D.C. sites have been suspended and the National Gallery of Art is also closed.

Smithsonian closes as government shut down continues

The Smithsonian's museums and zoo are now closed due to the government shut down. Tours of historic Washington, D.C. sites have been suspended and the National Gallery of Art is also closed.

n.pr

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 13h

From last night.... chaos is a management strategy to undermine and demoralize health experts and the federal workforce.

We should call it out and reject it.

These are not 'errors'.

More here:
open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 15h

Key word: some. An unknown some. And not the first time.

open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...

With Malice Toward All and Charity for None: Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition

A post interpreting the Friday night firing of more than 1,000 CDC experts only to have some of these layoffs termed an ‘error’ & reversed on Saturday night.

open.substack.com

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Unknown gap between number fired on Friday and unfired on Saturday and as before in previous "errors", message is clear: admin doesn't care about federal workers or their mission.

open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...

With Malice Toward All and Charity for None: Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition

A post interpreting the Friday night firing of more than 1,000 CDC experts only to have some of these layoffs termed an ‘error’ & reversed on Saturday night.

open.substack.com

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

But they still fire a lot of them...

In sum: the 'unfiring' doesn't specify how many were un-RIFed

&

manages to cast a second, unfair aspersion against those who remained RIFed

&

sends a broader message: the administration doesn't think civil servants or their work matters.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Why do these 'errors' keep happening in mission-critical positions...

'Trump administration tries to bring back fired nuclear weapons workers' (2/16)
apnews.com/article/nucl...

'With Malice Toward All and Charity for None' (10/11)
joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/with-malic...

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Reposted by Elena Litchman

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

New post:

With Malice Toward All and Charity for None:
Oct. 10-11 CDC (Un)Firing Edition

joshuasweitz.substack.com/publish/post...

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

And for the moment, ever downwards.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

"We want to put them in trauma"

(with laughter from the audience at the Center for Renewing America)

Article:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...

Video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBH9...

“We Want the Bureaucrats to Be Traumatically Affected”

YouTube video by ProPublica

www.youtube.com

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Give them time.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Equal parts malice and incompetence, but the incompetence ends up being a form of malice, so it's mostly malice.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

One more note: there were many more RIFs on Friday night.

Perhaps the administration does not think of these as 'errors', and will claim that some RIFs were 'correct'.

We should assume otherwise: these RIFs are a form of political retribution that do not serve federal agency missions.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

Correct.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

New reporting: many apparently fired at CDC in 'error'. This is a failure by design given that the admin does not care about fulfilling agency missions. This is the kind of error that should have political consequences.

Unserious people cause real-world harm.

🎁
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Kimberly A. Prather, Will Jennings, Joshua S. Weitz , and 11 more Kimberly A. Prather, Will Jennings, Joshua S. Weitz, Steve Peers, Mary Feeney, American Library Association, Robert C. Richards, Melanie C. Green, Gerald Friedman, James Goodwin, Erol Akçay, Henry Jones, Timothy D. McBride, Monisha Bajaj

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 1d

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 1d

One week from today, in front of NIH, 10am-12pm

Rally to Defend Medical Research

NIH/Medical Center Metro stop
Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20814

www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...

NO KINGS NIH --Defend Medical Research · Mobilize

**In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.** Our peaceful movement is only getting bigger and stronger. “NO KINGS” is more than just a slogan—it’s the foundation our nation was built upon. Bo...

www.mobilize.us

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