She criticized President Trump during the shutdown. Now she's been put on leave

Updated November 14, 2025 at 11:35 AM PST

Jenna Norton, a program director at the National Institutes of Health, says she has been put on paid leave following the end of the government shutdown.

"I was not given a reason for being put on leave, but I strongly suspect it is because I have been speaking up in my personal capacity about the harms that I have been witnessing inside the National Institutes of Health," she said in a video posted to TikTok .

The notice Norton received from human resources stated that the leave "is not being done for any disciplinary purpose."

She is among a number of federal employees who have been openly critical of the Trump administration, both before and during the 43-day shutdown.

Norton first spoke out in June, when she helped organize a call to act