Trump Administration Cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program
February 2025 – Trump Administration cuts thousands of Probationary Employees
On Friday, February 14th, 2025, the Trump administration fired thousands of “Probationary Employees” of the Department of Health and Human Services and pushed thousands of others to resigning in a supposed “buyout”.
This ended up causing the World Trade Center Health Program to lose over 20% of its staff, one in five. From a program that had 93 staff positions filled to a staff with less than 73. This included 16 probationary staff that had been fired, as well as over 5 or more other staff who took the administration’s “buyout”.
This cut in staff was just after the WTC Health Program went thru a reorganization and planned to increase its staff to 138 positions to better manage the program, which just last year increased in size by over 10,000 new members.
In addition, through the “buyout,” the program lost the medical benefits team leader and the program’s Director of Research and some other positions.
Here is a story from WUSA about Rachel Shaw, the spouse of an Army Pilot, who is one of the terminated staff.
This is what the Health and Human Services spokesperson, Andrew Nixon, told reporters about these cuts:
“The clinical staff of the World Trade Center Health Program were not affected. Direct patient care is still functioning, and patients are still being seen by doctors and nurses at clinics.”
While the spokesperson statement was technically accurate, it was not truthful.
When the WTC Program staff is cut, the program is weakened and impacts members ability to get care and to be treated for their 9/11 conditions.
The impact of these job cuts if not reversed would have been felt in the weeks and months to come in several ways:
- Decisions on certifications to allow for treatment of new cancers and other conditions will be delayed.
- The enrollment of new responders and survivors who have been diagnosed with cancer will be delayed.
- Decisions on the pending petitions such as whether to include auto immune, cardiac conditions, dementia and cognitive decline and other conditions that were supposed to be announced in March of 2025 will be further delayed.
- Work by the program to supervise contractors will now be more difficult and the program will be less able to combat fraud and abuse and improve the services to 9/11 responders and survivors.
- There will be fewer staff to respond to complaints by patients and intervene when there are issues with prescriptions and treatment.
In addition to the job cuts, apparently Elon Musk’s DOGE terminated two research grants.
The first was a New York City FDNY research grant that funds FDNY’s efforts to compare FDNY disease incidence rates with 3 other urban fire depts. It is the best way to definitively prove that any new conditions are WTC related and therefore should be added by the program to the covered WTC conditions While terminating this grant does not impact the clinics current staffing it will severely hinder the FDNY’s effort to provide WTC exposed members with treatment coverage for new health conditions (ex. autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, etc.) that are increasingly affecting FDNY members.
The second grant was for the Feinstein Institute on Long Island, that was also looking at cancer rates, but in this case comparing the cancer rates between area workers in lower Manhattan and similar workers in Westchester County.
Thankfully the reaction and public outrage was swift, including the reaction of public officials including the support of New York and New Jersey Republican Members of Congress. Lead by Congressman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), including Mike Lawler (R-NY), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Tom Kean (R-NJ), sent a letter calling to President Trump’s attention the impact this staff cut would have on the programs ability to do its work.
This letter, along with the work of Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) and others who have raised their bipartisan concerns about these cuts in staff and the impact those cuts would have on the program’s ability to provide services to responders and survivors, pushed the administration to reverse the job cuts.
April 2025 – Secretary Kennedy and DOGE fire NIOSH Director and WTC Health Program Administrator John Howard and thousands of employees at HHS, including WTC Health Program staff and NIOSH and CDC staff that support the World Trade Center Health Program
On Tuesday, April 1st, we learned about the Trump Administration’s huge cuts to HHS, included cuts to the staff of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), encompassing nearly all the National Institute of Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the firing of Dr. John Howard, the head of NIOSH and the Director of the World Trade Center Health Program. (WTCHP).
The DOGE cuts eliminated nearly all NIOSH staff, meaning the Firefighter Cancer Registry, the Firefighter Fatality and Investigation Program, the program that certifies all respirators that protect all workers (from firefighters to health care workers), the research program that prevents fatal falls on construction projects, and safety and health research to protect mineworkers from black lung and other diseases among many other worker safety and health programs were gone.
That was bad enough, but among the staff terminated were 16 WTCHP staff, as well as CDC and NIOSH staff that supported the World Trade Center Health Program.
Here is a list of the impact of these cuts in the Program and support staff:
Dr Howard was fired and then reinstated, but… While the announcement by the Rep Garbarino and NY Republican Members of Congress, Lawler, LaLota, and Malliotakis that Dr Howard, (who was a Trump Appointee), has been reinstated is good news, and Citizens for the Extension have applauded the New York Republican Members of Congress for getting this done, his status at this time is still not clear.
HHS press office still refuses to confirm that he has been restored to his position and there are indications that his status as the Administrator of the WTCHP is still not clear.
HHS Secretary Kennedy and the Trump Administration still need to fix the problem they have created for sick and injured 9/11 responders and survivors and confirm Dr. Howard was restored and restore the rest of the staff that they cut.
WTCHP Staff fired. While the administration has stated that none of the remaining 86 staff members of the WTCHP were fired, that is not accurate. In fact, 16 WTCHP staffers, 13 in Cincinnati (OH) and three in Morgantown (WV) have received RIF notices.
Treatment is being denied. Because of the firing of program and support staff and certifications that allow for treatment of members have stopped. For example: Before a WTCHP-affiliated clinic or their National Program can treat a responder or survivor for a cancer or any covered condition, the clinic doctor must request a “certification” from WTCHP in Washington that must be approved by a M.D. The WTCHP relied on NIOSH doctors for this—and they were fired. All of the staff that handled these approvals need to be reinstated as well.
Enrollment in the program for responders and survivors had stopped. Upon the firing of the staff, the WTCHP has officially informed the FDNY and other WTC Clinical Centers of excellence that they could not enroll new members as there is no one to sign off on these applications. Members who are not currently enrolled in the WTCHP were going to have their application process delayed during which time they cannot receive any services – no monitoring exams, no certifications, no treatment. All of the staff that supported enrollments need to be reinstated so there are no delays.
Intensive Treatments will be delayed. Once certified, high-cost treatments need special approval before they can be done. Without upper-level personnel to sign off on these approvals, lifesaving, time sensitive treatments such as lung transplant, stem cell transplants, expensive chemotherapy will be delayed or perhaps not approved at all. For these treatments, time delays result in death. The CDC and NIOSH staff that approved treatments need to be reinstated.
Contract Oversight Staff Fired. Apparently, the CDC Contracting Office and the Extramural Grants Office that supported WTCHP have all been fired as well. Since the WTCHP used CDC staff to administer all contracts and grants, the firings will impact the ability of the WTCHP health providers and researchers to deliver services to 9/11 responders and survivors. So, there is now no direct oversight of program contractors, hardly a good way to fight waste fraud and abuse or if you actually cared about running an effective program.
Petitions will not be considered. Under the Zadroga statute, a “petitioning” process is used to add additional conditions to those covered by the WTCHP. Petitions were reviewed by NIOSH staff epidemiologists—who have been fired—and there are several pending petitions covering additional conditions including autoimmune and cardiac conditions. The WTCHP had said last December that these petitions would be decided in March 2025—and that did not happen.
Research Grants cannot be administered. The WTCHP used NIOSH staff to handle the administration of some $20 million in research grants, such as the work being done on the possible connection of 9/11 to cognitive decline. That staff has been fired. Normally those grants start their RFP process in March, and that is not happening at this time.
Communications Pause. While not related directly to the firing of HHS staff, the continuing pause in all public communications by HHS imposed by Secretary Kennedy, that have been in place since the start of the Trump Administration is impacting many of the normal functions of the program. This will delay research on 9/11 conditions and improvements in the program’s contracts to better serve the program members.
The bottom line is that it’s crystal clear that the HHS Secretary, and the DOGE’s AI bots that did these cuts, do not understand how the WTCHP was integrated into NIOSH and CDC. If the World Trade Center Health Program is to function, after restoring Dr. Howard to his position, the WTCHP staff needs to be brought to full strength (including hiring medical, epidemiologists, contract and grant staff), and the other firings reversed.
This wasn’t a scalpel or even a chainsaw, this was bulldozer that is leveling the program and these cuts are going to impact the care of injured and ill 9/11 responders and survivors.
Cuts are Impacting the Program Program members, 9/11 responders and survivors are in fact facing immediate and real denial of critical care because of the Trump Administration’s actions despite Secretary Kennedys assertions that his “reorganization” is not impacting services. “Despite calling some program cuts a “mistake,” Kennedy has maintained that no “essential services” or “front-line” jobs would be impacted by HHS’s massive restructuring.” We know that his statement is not true.
These Cuts are not First time this Administration hurt 911 responders and survivors To be clear, the Trump Administration has been working against the interests of thousands of injured 9/11 responders and survivors since before it took office. Just last December, Elon Musk and then President Elect Trump effectively killed the provision in the C.R. passed in December—legislation that had been agreed to by the bipartisan House and Senate negotiators to fix the upcoming deficit the WTC Health Program (a deficit which will result in more cuts to services later in the current Trump Administration).
After cutting this program’s staff directly in February and having to rescind those cuts under pressure, we would have thought that the Trump Administration or the new HHS Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr. would have learned their lesson and would have thought before cutting—measured twice and cut once—but that, sadly, was not the case.
We need confirmation that Dr. Howard has been restored to WTCHP and taken off administrative leave and the positions that support the WTCHP at NIOSH and CDC need to be restored and the communications pause lifted immediately.
All the staff of the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) , the CDC and NIOSH staff that support and work on behalf of 9/11 responders and survivors need to be restored as well-immediately.
That includes:
- The 16 World Trade Center Staff of the 86 remaining WTCHP who have in fact been terminated in Cincinnati Ohio and Morgantown West Virgina after the Trump administration said that no WTCHP staff have been terminated need to be reinstated.
- All staff of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that handled contract issues for the program, without which the programs clinics will not be able to function need to be reinstated
- The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) staff who supported the program, the Doctors, Epidemiologists, Research Grants staff and all the administrative staff that run the program work need to be reinstated, immediately.
- Now that he is reinstated, Dr Howard will need the HHS hiring freeze removed so that staff that took the buyout can be replaced and the full authorized staff level can be hired.
- Finally, the HHS “Communication Pause” needs to be lifted for this program so that its committees and research process can get back to work.
Statements from Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act
April 23, 2025
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), in an interview yesterday with conservative influencer Benny Johnson trafficked in crazy conspiracy theories, asserting that Building 7 of the World Trade Center Complex was brought down via “a controlled demolition” in the aftermath of the collapse of the Twin Towers, and announced he planned to have hearings on this issue.
April 5, 2025
First, Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act wants to thank Congressman Garbarino and the New York Republican Members of Congress, Representatives Lawler, LaLota and Malliotakis for working to convince the Trump administration to reinstate Dr. Howard as the Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program. They know that it is critical […]
April 1, 2025
In another example of chainsaw incompetence, the Trump Administration has fired Dr. John Howard, the Director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP)—along with hundreds of NIOSH staff who perform critical health and safety missions.
February 21, 2025
Citizens for the Extension of the of the James Zadroga Act wants to thank President Trump for the CDC’s action in rescinding the cuts to the staff of the World Trade Center Health Program and ensuring that needed research on the impact of 9/11 on responders and survivors can continue. We appreciate the swift action […]
February 16, 2025
Citizens for the Extension of the of the James Zadroga has been informed with updated information that the Trump Administration has reportedly terminated 16 probationary staff serving World Trade Center Health Program and that with the several other staff have taken the Administration’s “buy out”, the total reduction in the CDC staff that supervise and […]
Editorial Support
April 2, 2025 — NY Daily News — WTC Health Program must be saved: Firing of leader Dr. John Howard and others must be reversed
Now there’s a health program for the 9/11 responders and survivors without any doctors and with no one in charge. Way to go RFK Jr.!
February 26, 2025 — NY Daily News — Never forget the WTC sick: Congress must finally fully fund their health care
Having protected the WTC Health Program from Musk’s chainsaw, much more must be done to fully fund this CDC program, which will soon be facing shortfalls.
February 20, 2025 — Newsday — Congress must fight cuts to WTC health program
The Trump administration’s broad employee cuts have slashed World Trade Center Health Program staffing by 20%.
Documents
February 19th, 2025 Garbarino Letter to President Trump
April 5, 2025 Garbarino, Lawler, LaLota, Malliotakis Applaud the Restoration of Dr. Howard as WTCHP Administrator
News Articles on Cuts to World Trade Center Health Program
April 21, 2025 — ProPublica — Trump Laid Off Nearly All the Federal Workers Who Investigate Firefighter Deaths
The cuts, which are part of Trump’s slashing of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, will also halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters’ cancer cases.
April 21, 2025 — The City — Anxiety Is Side Effect of Staffing Cuts at Sept. 11 Health Program
Mayor Eric Adams has been slow to criticize the moves of the Trump administration, which have 9/11 survivors and first-responders on edge.
April 8, 2025 — News12 The Bronx — Sen. Schumer: 16 additional staffers fired from World Trade Center Health Program
The firings were a result of the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce.
April 7, 2025 — Albany Times-Union — Administrator of 9/11 health program reinstated, representative says
Following outrage from advocates and members of Congress and widespread news coverage, the Trump administration has reportedly reinstated Dr. John Howard as head of a federal health program for 9/11 first responders days after he was fired.
April 7, 2025 — Fox 5 New York — 9/11 groups protest the Trump administration’s cuts to WTC health program
After the Trump administration’s layoffs at the HHS, many roles at the World Trade Center Health Program are left unstaffed. Chuck Schumer and 9/11 families gather to protest these firings.
April 6, 2025 — PIX11 News — World Trade Center Health Program federal cuts
Lawmakers are demanding that the Trump administration restore funds to 9/11 Health Program.
April 6, 2025 — Newsday — World Trade Center Health program cuts a deep concern, Schumer and Gillibrand say
New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer joined advocates and labor leaders on Sunday to condemn the Trump administration’s layoffs at a health program that treats 9/11 survivors, saying the move could threaten care for first responders.
April 6, 2025 — amNY — New York senators demand Trump Administration restore ‘revolting’ cuts made to WTC Health Program for 9/11 first responders
Dozens of 9/11 first responder advocates and New York’s US senators gathered to demand the Trump Administration fully restore staffing cuts to a critical program that provides medical services for those who risked their lives at the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
April 6, 2025 — CBS New York — Fight continues to preserve the World Trade Center Health Program
Government cuts have led to layoffs at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
April 6, 2025 — CNN — ‘A huge impact on worker safety’: Protection for miners, firefighters in jeopardy after CDC cuts
Ongoing investigations to ensure the safety of lifesaving breathing equipment known as escape devices used in underground mines, in building fires and on naval ships have abruptly stopped.
April 5, 2025 — NY Daily News — Feds bow to pressure, reinstate head of WTC Health Program
President Trump and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. have reinstated the head of the World Trade Center Health Program — yet 16 members of the pivotal program for 9/11 first responders and survivors still face the chopping block.
April 5, 2025 — Newsday — World Trade Center Health Program leader John Howard’s firing reversed after uproar, Rep. Andrew Garbarino says
The doctor, John Howard, is director of the World Trade Center Health Program. He was one of an estimated 10,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services whose jobs were eliminated by the Trump administration.
April 4, 2025 — Newsday — Trump administration cuts claim 16 jobs at World Trade Center Health Program
Sixteen World Trade Center Health Program employees received notices that they could lose their jobs in the Health and Human Services Department’s downsizing, despite promises the program’s staff would not be reduced, a 9/11 health advocate said Friday.
April 4, 2025 — NY Daily News — Lawmakers launch bipartisan push to save 9/11 WTC program from RFK Jr. cuts
Legislators on both sides of the aisle outraged over drastic cuts to the agency that oversees the World Trade Center Health Program have fired off a letter to President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. demanding the pivotal services be restored.
April 4, 2025 — Gothamist — 9/11 responders sound alarm as Trump cuts WTC Health Program staff
Patients with medical conditions linked to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks are bracing for delays and disruptions to their care after the Trump administration fired hundreds of employees from the agency overseeing the World Trade Center Health Program, including its director.
April 4, 2025 — Albany Times-Union — 9/11 survivors feel ‘erased’ after Trump guts health program
First responders and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks may lose or receive delayed health care benefits from the World Trade Center Health Program after the Trump administration fired thousands of staff at the nation’s public health agencies this week.
April 3, 2025 — Politico — Which jobs were cut at CDC? Here’s a list
The layoffs at CDC this week hit global and environmental health as well as HIV prevention programs especially hard, according to an overview document obtained by POLITICO.
April 3, 2025 — ABC News — RFK Jr. announces HHS reinstating some programs, employees cut by mistake
On the heels of terminating 10,000 jobs from the Department of Health and Human Services this week, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told ABC News some programs would soon be reinstated because they were mistakenly cut.
April 3, 2025 — Rockland/Westchester Journal News — Schumer slams RFK Jr. for laying off employees who worked helping Sept. 11 responders
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has excoriated Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for laying off hundreds of employees who worked with survivors and first responders who experienced the terror attack on Sept. 11, 2001.
April 3, 2025 — The Broadsheet — World Trade Center Health Program Leader Fired, Along with Staff Who Support Operations
The fired staff include Dr. John Howard, the administrator of the Health Program, along with most of the staff of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
April 3, 2025 — PIX 11 News — Federal cuts to WTC Health Program could impact 9/11 survivors, officials warn
New York City officials are sounding the alarm after the federal government directed staff cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an organization that supports the World Trade Center Health Program.
April 3, 2025 — HealthDay — Longtime Head of 9/11 Health Program Let Go Amid Federal Job Cuts
The longtime leader of a federal health program for 9/11 survivors and first responders has been fired, worrying many advocates and lawmakers.
April 3, 2025 — SILive.com — ‘Un-American’: Schumer, Gillibrand bash Trump for more cuts to 9/11 health program
Outraged, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand “blasted” President Donald Trump Wednesday for enacting new cuts to World Trade Center Health Program personnel.
April 3, 2025 — Spectrum News NY1 — ‘Gross incompetence’: 9/11 advocates warn HHS cuts undermine World Trade Center health program
The World Trade Center Health Program could be devastated by this week’s mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 9/11 community advocates say.
April 2, 2025 — Fox 5 New York — 9/11 health program cuts called ‘A death sentence’ by advocates
Advocates say the federal government is breaking a promise to those exposed to toxic dust after the attacks, and that lives will be lost without urgent intervention.
April 2, 2025 — News12 Connecticut — 9/11 first responders say they’re furious about reported staffing cuts to WTC Health Program
Dr. John Howard, the program’s director, has been fired and nearly all of his staff has been let go. Firefighter Richard Rolle credits Dr. Howard for helping him to get approved for a breathing medication he couldn’t afford.
April 2, 2025 — CBS New York — Outrage as Trump administration lays off staff at World Trade Center Health Program
Senators Kirstin Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer are blasting the cuts, saying they will impact health care for 9/11 survivors.
April 2, 2025 — Washington Post — HHS layoffs include head of the World Trade Center Health Program
John Howard, administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program, lost his job under the sweeping layoffs that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered across U.S. health agencies.
April 2, 2025 — Healthcare Dive — ‘A cruel April Fool’s joke’: HHS layoffs characterized by confusion, errors
The HHS’ reduction in force, which agency head Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered last week, began on Tuesday. It was a mess, according to many sources who worked across the large federal health department.
April 2, 2025 — USA Today — ‘Delay and deny care’ to 9/11 survivors. Trump HHS cuts World Trade Center Program staff
The cuts, advocates and New York officials said, will cripple the program’s ability to adequately monitor and provide care to survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
April 2, 2025 — NY Daily News — WTC Health Program must be saved: Firing of leader Dr. John Howard and others must be reversed
Now there’s a health program for the 9/11 responders and survivors without any doctors and with no one in charge. Way to go RFK Jr.!
April 2, 2025 — NY Daily News — Trump, RFK JR. job cuts gut World Trade Center health program, paralyze care
Tens of thousands of responders and survivors rely on the WTC Health Program to get treatment and medication and monitor injuries and illnesses caused by the toxins that swirled around Ground Zero on 9/11 and the weeks that followed.
April 1, 2025 — Washington Post — Widespread layoffs, purge of leadership underway at U.S. health agencies
Senior leaders across the Department of Health and Human Services were put on leave and countless other employees lost their jobs Tuesday.
April 1, 2025 — New York Times — Trump Administration Begins Layoffs at CDC, FDA and Other Health Agencies
The cuts were part of a Trump administration plan announced last week to dismiss thousands of employees and drastically overhaul the Health and Human Services Department under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
April 1, 2025 — Firefighter Close Calls — Layoffs Gut NIOSH Including Firefighter, WTC and Cancer Programs
Around 873 staff are expected to be cut from NIOSH, multiple leaders within the agency were told in recent days.
March 31, 2025 — CBS News — RFK Jr.’s layoffs expected to gut worker safety agency NIOSH, officials say
At least two-thirds of the staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, are expected to be laid off as part of a restructuring ordered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
March 10, 2025 — Newsday — Federal science funding: NIH critical to LI medical research
Attempts to limit NIH funding will throttle discovery, diminish the nation’s global research leadership, and hurt Long Islanders.
March 6, 2025 — The Broadsheet — Trying Again: New Appropriations Measure Aims to Fund World Trade Center Health Program Through 2090
The new bill aims aimed to ensure that the WTC Health Program will have funding necessary for the next ten years.
March 6, 2025 — New York Times — Federal Workers Who Were Fired and Rehired by the Trump Administration
Even as the Trump administration continues to slash federal jobs, a number of federal agencies have begun to reverse course — reinstating some workers and pausing plans to dismiss others, sometimes within days of the firings.
March 6, 2025 — New York Post — How DOGE is giving Trump credibility with rebellious House GOP fiscal hawks
Trump has a new ally in the usual Republican intramural sniping: the Department of Government Efficiency, whose bull-in-a-china shop approach to shrinking government is helping GOP fiscal hawks get on board.
February 26, 2025 — NY Daily News — 9/11 survivors, advocates travel to Washington in push to fully fund embattled responder health program
At the same time, 9/11 survivor John Feal has once again brought a small army of 9/11 survivors and advocates to D.C. to ensure that the bill gets the votes it needs to pass.
February 26, 2025 — Spectrum News NY1 — N.Y. lawmakers relaunch push to permanently fund 9/11 health program, one week after rescinded DOGE cuts
Congressional lawmakers are launching yet another bipartisan push for permanent funding for the health program that helps people sickened by toxic smoke and debris from the World Trade Center’s collapse.
February 26, 2025 — NY Daily News — Never forget the WTC sick: Congress must finally fully fund their health care
Having protected the WTC Health Program from Musk’s chainsaw, much more must be done to fully fund this CDC program, which will soon be facing shortfalls.
February 24, 2025 — The Daily Show — Rupa Bhattacharyya – World Trade Center Health Program & DOGE’s Effect on Gov’t
Jon Stewart joins Rupa Bhattacharyya, former Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, to discuss how Elon Musk’s reckless budget cuts are affecting programs like the one she used to oversee.
February 22, 2025 — The Daily Beast — Trump Admin Agrees to Restore 9/11 Health Program Funding
After overwhelming blowback from both sides of the aisle, President Donald Trump’s administration has agreed that DOGE will keep its hands off the World Trade Center Health Program.
February 21, 2025 — Spectrum News NY1 — White House reverses DOGE cuts to 9/11 health program, grants
The Trump administration will reverse the layoffs it ordered at the 9/11 healthcare program for people sickened by toxic smoke and debris from the World Trade Center’s collapse.
February 21, 2025 — Rockland/Westchester Journal News — Trump, CDC fully restore 9/11 health program cuts from DOGE axe
Cuts announced last week by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency were restored Thursday and Friday.
February 21, 2025 — NY Daily News — 9/11 health funding and jobs restored amid outrage over Elon Musk cuts
Funding for 9/11 health research was restored by the federal government on Friday after bipartisan outrage erupted over Elon Musk’s deep cuts.
February 21, 2025 — New York Times — Trump, After G.O.P. Criticism, Reverses Cuts to 9/11 Survivors’ Program
About 20 percent of the World Trade Central Health Program’s staff had been terminated amid President Trump’s slashing of the federal work force.
February 21, 2025 — Rockland/Westchester Journal News — Trump restores 9/11 research funding cut by DOGE. Will WTC health program jobs be next?
Key scientific research grants into 9/11 health issues that were cut by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency were restored by President Trump, members of Congress announced.
February 20, 2025 — CBS News New York — CDC restores 9/11-related cancer research funding after DOGE’s cancellation, officials say
The CDC has restored a $257,000 contract for 9/11-related cancer research after the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency tried to cancel it.
February 20, 2025 — CBS News New York — CDC restores 9/11-related cancer research funding after DOGE’s cancellation, officials say
The CDC has restored a $257,000 contract for 9/11-related cancer research after the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency tried to cancel it, officials say.
February 20, 2025 — FOX 5 New York — Elon Musk’s DOGE slashes 9/11 first responders’ heath program
New York leaders are calling for the immediate reversal of federal cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program, which supports 9/11 first responders.
February 20, 2025 — Newsday — Congress must fight cuts to WTC health program
The Trump administration’s broad employee cuts have slashed World Trade Center Health Program staffing by 20%.
February 20, 2025 — NJ Spotlight News — Kennedy is urged to reverse World Trade Center health cuts
The Trump administration has cut staff and instigated buyouts resulting in a 20% reduction in staff at the World Trade Center Health Program, according to reports.
February 20, 2025 — CBS News — DOGE cuts at 9/11 health program may impact first responders
Advocates for those sickened by toxins from the massive debris of 9/11 are calling on President Trump to immediately reverse cuts he made to the World Trade Center Health Program.
February 20, 2025 — NY Daily News — Elon Musk cuts to 9/11 health fund spark bipartisan outrage
Elon Musk’s deep cuts to the 9/11 health fund have sparked rare bipartisan outrage as Republicans join Democratic lawmakers in demanding they be restored.
February 19, 2025 — Rep. Andrew Garbarino — Garbarino, Northeast Republicans Urge President Trump to Protect 9/11 Health Program
The Members also expressed concerns over reports that statutorily-required WTC research grants will be impacted by recent HHS actions.
February 19, 2025 — New York Times — DOGE Cuts 9/11 Survivors’ Fund, and Republicans Join Democrats in Rebuke
A coalition of congressional Republicans rebuked the president for cuts to a program that administers aid to emergency workers and others suffering from toxins related to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
February 19, 2025 — CNN — Fired government worker: DOGE 9/11 health program cuts endanger lives
Anthony Gardner joins The Lead.
February 19, 2025 — ABC News — Trump administration cuts to CDC will affect 9/11 responders, critics say
The firings and buyouts amount to a 20% reduction in the staff that supervises and administers the World Trade Center Health Program.
February 18, 2025 — Newsday — New York senators Schumer, Gillibrand to press Kennedy to reverse cuts to WTC health program
New York’s senators have asked for a meeting with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to demand he reverse staff cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program.
February 18, 2025 — NY Daily News — 9/11 health program staff cuts are ‘insulting,’ ‘un-American’: Schumer, Gillibrand
New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have already reached out to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., demanding the cuts to the program be rescinded.
February 18, 2025 — Rockland/Westchester Journal News — 9/11 health program cuts to cause ‘life and death’ delays, fired worker says
The impact is exacerbated, elected officials and fired workers say, by DOGE cuts to scientific research and last year’s scrapping of permanent funding for the WTC program by Congress.
February 18, 2025 — Newsday — New York senators Schumer, Gillibrand to press Kennedy to reverse cuts to WTC health program
Schumer and Gillibrand sent a letter Monday to Kennedy reminding him that he committed to ensuring that 9/11 first responders and survivors would continue to get the care they need.
February 18, 2025 — The Hill — NY Democrats demand RFK Jr. restore cuts to 9/11 survivor program
The program provides screenings, research and medications to more than 100,000 survivors diagnosed with conditions related to their service on 9/11 at no cost.
February 18, 2025 — Washington Post — Trump’s firings strike the nation’s health agencies
The nation’s health agencies were upended over the weekend by a confusing, slow-motion rollout of terminations that left staff worried about the future of various projects.
February 17, 2025 — Spectrum News NY1 — ‘It lacks humanity’: 9/11 community advocates warn of staffing cuts at federal health program
As the Trump White House continues to slash the federal government, advocates say the World Trade Center Health Program has seen a staffing reduction of 20% — a combination of layoffs and buyouts.
February 16, 2025 — New York Times — Trump Fired, Then Unfired, National Nuclear Security Administration Employees. What Were Their Jobs?
The move shined a spotlight on the agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration, which few Americans likely think of often, if ever, but has a monumental responsibility.
February 16, 2025 — WUSA 9 — Military spouse who was a probationary employee at the CDC fired over the weekend
Shaw worked in the CDC’s World Trade Center Health Program under the Department of Health and Human Services. She says about 40% of that program’s staff is expected to be cut.