By Megan Moser

Sen. Roger Marshall on Tuesday said he doesn’t expect to see more federal funding cuts like the ones that affected the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in February. However, he said the process of getting the lab fully operational has taken too long.

As part of sweeping Department of Agriculture cuts, the White House and its Department of Governmental Efficiency in February fired and subsequently rehired dozens of employees at the Manhattan-based NBAF, a federal lab studying high-risk animal diseases.

Marshall said he’s certain that leaders know how crucial NBAF is.

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more local news.

The post Sen. Roger Marshall says NBAF transition has taken ‘exceedingly long’ appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Megan Moser

Sen. Roger Marshall on Tuesday said he doesn’t expect to see more federal funding cuts like the ones that affected the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in February. However, he said the process of getting the lab fully operational has taken too long.

As part of sweeping Department of Agriculture cuts, the White House and its Department of Governmental Efficiency in February fired and subsequently rehired dozens of employees at the Manhattan-based NBAF, a federal lab studying high-risk animal diseases.

Marshall said he’s certain that leaders know how crucial NBAF is.

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more local news.

The post Sen. Roger Marshall says NBAF transition has taken ‘exceedingly long’ appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Ned Seaton and Megan Moser

The Mercury reported Monday that at least 28 people had been fired from the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan as part of Trump administration cuts. NBAF, the federal animal disease lab north of the K-State campus, is under the control of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

However, later in the week, national media outlets reported that some federal employees who had been cut — particularly those working on projects like the avian influenza response — were being rehired.

“Some people were hired back and some were not,” a source with direct knowledge of the situation at NBAF told The Mercury on Wednesday. The person spoke on a condition of anonymity.

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more local news.

The post Firings and rehirings at NBAF have created ‘mess’ at disease lab, says source appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

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The post The KMAN Five-Minute Morning Show: USDA accidentally fires officials handling avian flu response; seeks to rehire appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday said it accidentally fired several officials working on the response to the avian flu outbreak and is trying to get them back.

The statement came after the department cut thousands of employees since Friday, including at least 28 employees at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan. A source with knowledge of the situation told The Mercury that at least one of those was someone in a high-level position working on the government’s response to the avian flu outbreak.

“Although several positions supporting (avian flu) were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement. “USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission.”

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

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The post USDA says it accidentally fired some officials working on bird flu response and is trying to rehire them appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Megan Moser

Among those fired this week at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is a high-level official working on the bird flu response, sources said Monday.

As avian fluenza has continued to spread across the United States, sources confirmed that one of the 28 people terminated at NBAF since Friday was an official working to combat the virus.

The sources, who have direct knowledge of the situation, asked not to be identified.

As reported by The Mercury Monday, at least 28 people at NBAF have been terminated since Friday as part of the Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some of those included people whose jobs relate to safety practices at NBAF and researchers for dangerous animal diseases.

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more local news.

The post ‘High-level’ official working on bird flu response among those fired at NBAF appeared first on News Radio KMAN.