FFRDCs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ffrdcs shouldn’t be lobbying like this

RAND was specifically mentioned in that article. An important fact is that RAND is not an FFRDC. It’s a company that does stuff and also operates a few FFRDCs on behalf of the government. Same goes for University of California, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon.

I assume RAND has a firewall or conflict of interest controls between its FFRDC and non-FFRDC business, but I don’t know that for sure as I don’t work there.

I don’t work there either but know people who do and I think they can work across their businesses and are encouraged to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Negative comments about MITRE are not true and wonder what is motivating them. Full of hardworking, thoughtful people that care about their work.

Who are you kidding?

Not helpful... somebody here has an axe to grind about MITRE

Maybe MITRE is a shady FFRDC?

[Anonymous]

I heard the MITRE layoff notices were supposed to come out yesterday.

[Anonymous]

Did all the MITRE layoffs occur on Monday? I heard they were happening all week.

[Anonymous]

"https://data.usatoday.com/see-which-companies-announced-mass-layoffs-closings/mitre-corporation-va-layoff/va-w001024/".

Mitre McLean layoff details above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"https://data.usatoday.com/see-which-companies-announced-mass-layoffs-closings/mitre-corporation-va-layoff/va-w001024/".

Mitre McLean layoff details above.

So glad we have donor money at my ffrdc to offset this craziness.

[Anonymous]

Which MITRE FFRDCs are laying off staff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which MITRE FFRDCs are laying off staff?

bump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which MITRE FFRDCs are laying off staff?

bump

I believe all were affected in some way.

https://www.ffxnow.com/2025/04/04/report-federal-contractors-in-tysons-reston-to-lay-off-workers/

[Anonymous]

Are there layoffs at RAND?

[Anonymous]

All the FFRDCs are at risk for losing work, especially work that does not align with administration priorities. That said, as government contractors, this is not the first downturn they have dealt with. The drawdown after the Cold War ended and sequestration were two events that put funding at risk, and the FFRDCs survived. There is always a push to prove value and show how much money research can save or otherwise the value it delivers. The need for FFRDCs will endure, even though it is not clear if the current administration supports independent research. That said, China researchers will be better placed than those working on trans-Atlantic security. The industrial base remains a hot topic. Leaders may need to kiss the ring to survive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the FFRDCs are at risk for losing work, especially work that does not align with administration priorities. That said, as government contractors, this is not the first downturn they have dealt with. The drawdown after the Cold War ended and sequestration were two events that put funding at risk, and the FFRDCs survived. There is always a push to prove value and show how much money research can save or otherwise the value it delivers. The need for FFRDCs will endure, even though it is not clear if the current administration supports independent research. That said, China researchers will be better placed than those working on trans-Atlantic security. The industrial base remains a hot topic. Leaders may need to kiss the ring to survive.

Some FFRDCS (Mitre we are looking at you) stray too far from their core mission by taking non-gov money. This is very different than what you described.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the FFRDCs are at risk for losing work, especially work that does not align with administration priorities. That said, as government contractors, this is not the first downturn they have dealt with. The drawdown after the Cold War ended and sequestration were two events that put funding at risk, and the FFRDCs survived. There is always a push to prove value and show how much money research can save or otherwise the value it delivers. The need for FFRDCs will endure, even though it is not clear if the current administration supports independent research. That said, China researchers will be better placed than those working on trans-Atlantic security. The industrial base remains a hot topic. Leaders may need to kiss the ring to survive.

I feel bad for think tanks whose CEOs came from the Biden administration (Brookings and RAND) because Trump and co. are clearly on a war path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some FFRDCS (Mitre we are looking at you) stray too far from their core mission by taking non-gov money. This is very different than what you described.

What are you talking about “taking non-gov money”? I’ve worked at MITRE for a long time and provide leadership to staff that work across hundreds of projects. If what you write is happening, it’s so rare that I couldn’t give you an example of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some FFRDCS (Mitre we are looking at you) stray too far from their core mission by taking non-gov money. This is very different than what you described.

What are you talking about “taking non-gov money”? I’ve worked at MITRE for a long time and provide leadership to staff that work across hundreds of projects. If what you write is happening, it’s so rare that I couldn’t give you an example of it.

Example that is fairly obvious is Mitre monetizing its ATT&CK cyber stuff with revenue from commercial cyber firms.