A senior leader at the National Institutes of Health has been fired as officials investigate a multi-million-dollar contract with a company that named his wife among potential staff.
NIH Chief Operating Officer Eric Schnabel was escorted out of the agency’s headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, on Monday, The Washington Post reports, citing three anonymous officials with knowledge of the incident. He was hired in April, and his departure was so abrupt that some of his employees still showed up to meetings scheduled with him for Tuesday, only to discover he had been fired, according to the outlet.
Eric Schnabel was removed from his post as the agency investigates a $3.3 million contract to Argo Chasing, a Louisiana company that named his wife, Trish Duffy Schnabel, on a list of prospective staff, the Post reports. The NIH approved the contract earlier this month.
The award is designed to support research on several topics, including counterintelligence, strategic research security and autism, the Post reports. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to direct agency resources toward researching autism earlier this year.
Trish Schnabel is a licensed professional counselor. She would have been among those supported by the contract, but she would not have received the full $3.3 million, the anonymous officials told the Post. She was being onboarded as a senior analyst in the company’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, the Post reports, citing an internal company document.
Trish Schnabel also appears to have competed on the U.S. game show Wheel of Fortune in January 2020, winning tens of thousands of dollars, including $50,000 from the bonus round.
Eric Schnabel joined the NIH in April, as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency was gutting federal agencies. He came to the NIH after more than 20 years in the U.S. Army.
An NIH spokesperson told The Independent the agency does not comment on personnel matters. Argo Chasing also declined to comment.
The Independent has contacted Schnabel for comment.
The NIH saw widespread cuts to their agency this spring, forcing them to abruptly cancel more than 2,000 research grants valued at more than $12 billion. These cuts have impacted patients in clinical trials, with the agency forced to cut off medication regimens to some participants or leave them with unmonitored device implants, the Associated Press reports.
Nearly 100 NIH staff sent a letter to the agency’s leader, Jay Bhattacharya, last month expressing concerns with the cuts.
"The life-and-death nature of our work demands that changes be thoughtful and vetted. We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety and faithful stewardship of public resources," the letter reads.
"Many have raised these concerns to NIH leadership, yet we remain pressured to implement harmful measures,” it continues. “Today, we come directly to you."
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