Many residents are proud of the internationally recognized research unfolding at the National Institutes of Health facility and acknowledge that Rocky Mountain Labs has become an economic driver for Hamilton. But a few locals resent what they consider the elitist scientists at the facility, which has employed about 500 people in recent years. Or they fear the contagious pathogens studied there could escape the labs\u2019 well-protected walls<\/a>.<\/p>\n That split widened with the covid-19 pandemic and the divisions that emerged from mask mandates and vaccine development. In 2023, Matt Rosendale, a Republican who was then a U.S. representative from Montana, falsely tied the lab<\/a> to the origins of covid in an attempt to cut its funding. Now, Hamilton is a prime example of how the Trump administration\u2019s mass federal layoffs and cancellation of research grants are having ripple effects in communities far from Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n On an April afternoon, hundreds of people filled the sidewalks at an intersection of Hamilton\u2019s usually quiet downtown, waving signs that read \u201cHands Off Federal Workers\u201d and \u201cStop Strangling Science.\u201d Some driving by honked in support, rolled their windows down, and cheered. Others flipped off the rallygoers and cast insults at them. A passing bicyclist taunted protesters with chants of \u201cDOGE\u201d \u2014 short for the Department of Government Efficiency, the federal initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk to cut costs that has driven mass layoffs and slashed programs.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Kim Hasenkrug, a former Rocky Mountain Labs researcher of 31 years, who retired in 2022, joined the crowd. He slammed President Donald Trump\u2019s promise to let Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. \u201cgo wild<\/a>\u201d on health issues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re beginning to see what \u2018going wild\u2019 looks like,\u201d Hasenkrug said. \u201cThese cuts will not streamline research. They will throttle it.\u201d<\/p>\n As of early May, 41 Rocky Mountain Labs workers had been let go or told their contracts would end this summer, and nine more had retired early, according to researchers employed by the facility. KFF Health News spoke with 10 current or former Rocky Mountain Labs workers who requested anonymity to speak about information that has not been publicly released. The federal government has also slashed billions of dollars for research, including at least $29 million in grants to Montana recipients, ranging from university scientists to the state health department. That\u2019s according to HHS data confirmed by KFF Health News.<\/p>\n Scientists who remain in Hamilton said research has slowed. They\u2019ve struggled to buy basic gear amid federal directives that changed how orders are placed. Now, more cuts are planned for workers who buy and deliver critical, niche supplies, such as antibodies, according to researchers at the labs.<\/p>\n The Department of Health and Human Services didn\u2019t respond to repeated requests for more information on the government\u2019s cuts to research, including questions about the changes in Hamilton. Deputy press secretary Emily Hilliard said the department is committed to the \u201ccontinuity of essential research.\u201d<\/p>\n Some within the lab feel as if they\u2019ve become public enemies or outcasts, unable to defend themselves without risking their jobs. Postdoctoral scientists just starting their careers are seeing options dwindle. Some workers whose employment contracts expire within days or weeks have been in the dark about whether they\u2019ll be renewed. At least one Rocky Mountain Labs scientist moved to another country to research infectious disease, citing \u201ccurrent turmoil,\u201d according to an email sent from the scientist to co-workers that was reviewed by KFF Health News.<\/p>\n \u201cThe remaining staff has been discredited, disrespected, and discouraged from remaining in public service,\u201d Hasenkrug said.<\/p>\n The National Institutes of Health<\/a> is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. It has 27 institutes and centers focused on understanding illness and disabilities and improving health. The agency\u2019s research has helped lead<\/a> to vaccines against major diseases \u2014 from smallpox to covid \u2014 and has been behind the majority of medicines<\/a> approved for the U.S. market. That research also generated more than $94.5 billion in new economic activity nationwide, according to United for Medical Research, a coalition of research groups and advocates.<\/p>\n The Trump administration aims to eliminate roughly 1,200 jobs<\/a> at the NIH and shrink its budget by 40%<\/a>. The administration\u2019s budget proposal to cut NIH funding calls the agency\u2019s spending \u201cwasteful,\u201d deems its research \u201crisky,\u201d and accuses it of promoting \u201cdangerous ideologies.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a dramatic political turnabout for the NIH, which for decades enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington. From 2015 to 2023, its annual budget grew by more than $17 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n As of 2023, Rocky Mountain Labs was one of only 51 facilities in the world with the highest level of biosafety precautions, according to the Global BioLabs mapping project<\/a>. In April, HHS indefinitely stalled work at another of those labs, the Integrated Research Facility in Frederick, Maryland, Wired reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kennedy has said the nation should pause funding infectious disease research, and the White House has said<\/a> it plans to intensify scrutiny of gain-of-function research, which involves altering a pathogen to study its spread.<\/p>\n Hamilton, in Ravalli County, is a place of scientists, ranchers, and outdoor recreationists. Here, 1 in 8 people<\/a> live below the federal poverty line. Nearly 70%<\/a> of county residents who participated in the 2024 presidential election voted for Trump, and Trump signs still dot U.S. Highway 93 leading to town. In the thick of the covid pandemic, the sheriff and county commissioners refused to enforce a statewide mandate to mask in public spaces while Rocky Mountain Labs researchers worked to understand the virus.<\/p>\n The lab\u2019s work dates to 1900, and even early on it was controversial. Rocky Mountain spotted fever was killing people in the valley. Researchers found the cause \u2014 ticks \u2014 and worked to eradicate the disease-carrying bugs by requiring ranchers to treat their cattle.<\/p>\n That created resentment among locals who \u201calready harbored a healthy distrust of government-imposed programs,\u201d according to an NIH account. The tension came to a head<\/a> in 1913 when a \u201cdipping vat\u201d used to chemically treat cattle was blown up with dynamite and another damaged with sledgehammers.<\/p>\n Now, some residents and local leaders are worried about the economic consequences of an exodus of federal workers and their salaries. Most of the county is government-managed public land, and the first wave of federal cuts hit U.S. Forest Service workers who do everything from clear trails to fight wildfires.<\/p>\n Rocky Mountain Labs generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the local economy by creating more work for industries including construction and bringing more people into the city\u2019s shops, a 2023 University of Montana study found. The rural community is also a base for international vaccine developer GSK due to the lab\u2019s presence. Kathleen Quinn, a vice president of communications for the company, said GSK\u2019s business with government agencies \u201ccontinues as usual\u201d for now amid federal changes and that it\u2019s \u201ctoo early to say what any longer-term impact could be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur community is impacted more than most,\u201d said City Councilor Darwin Ernst. He spoke during an overflowing March town hall to discuss the federal government cuts. Hundreds of people turned out on the weeknight asking city councilors to do something.<\/p>\n Ernst, a former researcher at the lab who now works as a real estate broker and appraiser, said in an interview he\u2019s starting to see more homes enter the market, which he attributed to the atmosphere of uncertainty and former federal workers\u2019 having to find jobs elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone recently left with her entire family. Because of the layoffs, they can\u2019t afford to live here,\u201d he said. \u201cSome people retire here but that\u2019s not everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Shigley said she\u2019s been a Hamilton resident for more than 30 years and initially thought the government would find \u201csome inefficiencies, no big deal.\u201d But now she\u2019s worried about her hometown\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething\u2019s going on that we can\u2019t control,\u201d Shigley said. \u201cAnd the people that it\u2019s happening to aren\u2019t allowed to talk to us about it.\u201d<\/p>\n The City Council sent a letter to federal officials in April asking for formal consultation prior to any significant changes, given Hamilton\u2019s \u201cinterdependence\u201d with Rocky Mountain Labs and the federally controlled lands surrounding Hamilton. As of May, city leaders hadn\u2019t received a response.<\/p>\n People in town are split on how badly the federal cuts will affect Hamilton.<\/p>\n Julie Foster, executive director of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority<\/a>, said the community survived the decline of logging, and she thinks Rocky Mountain Labs will survive, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be here. There may be bumps in the road, but this is a resilient place,\u201d Foster said.<\/p>\n Even amid the cuts, Rocky Mountain Labs is in the process of a building expansion that, so far, hasn\u2019t stopped. And researchers\u2019 work continues. This spring, scientists there helped make the first identification in Montana of a species of tick known to carry Lyme disease.<\/p>\n KFF Health News correspondent Rae Ellen Bichell contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/qopreliz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/MontanaNIH_02-scaled.jpg\")
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