"Delay and deny" care to 9/11 survivors. Trump HHS cuts World Trade Center Program staff
Source: USA Today
Published 2:03 p.m. ET April 2, 2025 | Updated 5:22 p.m. ET April 2, 2025
NEW YORK ‒ The Trump administration fired hundreds of staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), including those at the World Trade Center Health Program who treat 9/11 first responders and survivors. 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, as well as people newly diagnosed with illnesses such as cancers and respiratory illnesses.
"It’s an insult to those who died," John Feal, a 9/11 survivor and advocate, told USA TODAY Wednesday morning. NIOSH and the World Trade Center Health Program ‒ part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ‒ fall under Tuesday's sweeping cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services that aimed to reduce the department's overall staff by 10,000 employees.
In a statement released to USA TODAY Wednesday afternoon, HHS said that the department's reorganization is being done in phases. "The first phase was last week’s announcement to inform American taxpayers how HHS will produce better health outcomes for them and their families," the statement said. "The second phase rolled out Tuesday, was to notify roughly 10,000 employees who were impacted as part of the reduction in force. HHS leaders focused personnel cuts on redundant or unnecessary administrative positions."
Tuesday evening, Benjamin Chevat, executive director of the Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, an organization that advocates for 9/11 survivors, released a statement saying the administration fired Dr. John Howard, the longtime NIOSH director and administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program director. The program was already understaffed beyond its statutory authorized level, and the recent cuts will add further chaos, Chevat said.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/04/02/hhs-layoffs-world-trade-center-program-staff/82775014007/
Headline (used single quotes generating 403s): 'Delay and deny care' to 9/11 survivors. Trump HHS cuts World Trade Center Program staff
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there should be "no words" at all out of him about anything, for his remaining time on this planet. 
