<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">At the Veterans Affairs hospital in Pittsburgh, researchers spent months preparing for a clinical trial of a new drug to treat advanced cancers of the mouth, throat and voice box.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">They were ready last month to start enrolling patients — veterans whose cancer had spread to other tissue and who had run out of treatment options.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Then a problem arose.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The hospital was unable to renew the job of a key staff member involved in running the study, a typically routine process thwarted by a hiring freeze imposed under the government-cutting project led by President Trump and Elon Musk. Suddenly, the clinical trial was on hold.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“They were ready to enroll,” said Alanna Caffas, the chief executive of the Veterans Health Foundation, which administers the trials. “They had the lab kits on site. They had the drug to dispense. But they couldn’t get the clinical research coordinator renewed.”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">While Trump administration officials have promised to preserve core patient services, initial cuts at the V.A. have nonetheless spawned chaotic ripple effects. They have disrupted studies involving patients awaiting experimental treatments, forced some facilities to fire support staff and created uncertainty amid the mass cancellation, and partial reinstatement, of hundreds of contracts targeted by Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="ImageBlock-3"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Image</span><picture><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/08/multimedia/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1800"/><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/08/multimedia/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=1200"/><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/08/multimedia/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale&amp;width=600"/><img alt="" class="css-r3fift" decoding="async" height="400" sizes="((min-width: 600px) and (max-width: 1004px)) 84vw, (min-width: 1005px) 80vw, 100vw" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/08/multimedia/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale" srcset="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/08/multimedia/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 600w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/08/multimedia/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 1024w,https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/08/multimedia/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb/00dc-va-cuts-pitt-cqtb-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp 2048w" uri="nyt://image/1ff72b7d-ba97-5ae3-8ad2-3f3afc372e02" width="600"/></picture></div><figcaption class="css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">The research office at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Pittsburgh, seen on Saturday.</span><span class="css-14fe1uy e1z0qqy90"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Jeff Swensen for The New York Times</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div data-testid="InteractiveBlock-4"><section class="interactive-content interactive-size-scoop css-kqcwdy" data-id="100000010033603" data-source-id="100000010033603" data-testid="inline-interactive" id="federal-workers"><header class="css-obecq5 interactive-header" id="interactive-header"><h2 class="css-4hk76s interactive-headline" id="interactive-headline">Are you a federal worker? 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