New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote a Monday letter to newly minted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging him to reverse recent cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that impact a program for 9/11 first responders.
“To say funding for 9/11 first responders is government waste is outrageous and insulting. These brutal cuts mean layoffs for staff who have dedicated their careers to caring for our 9/11 survivors. It means delayed care for our sick first responders,” Schumer said in a Tuesday statement about the reported cut to the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP).
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.
“It is telling 9/11 survivors that after they risked everything to protect us, we can’t support their healthcare needed,” Schumer added. “I’m demanding HHS Secretary Kennedy immediately reverse these cuts and terminations of the people who provide the healthcare to those who answered the call of duty on 9/11 and now suffer from cancer, respiratory illness and more.”
The Trump administration moved to cut probationary positions within the federal government, including approximately 1,300 CDC employees.
Schumer and Gillibrand said the cuts to the WTCHP have already led to the termination of at least 16 program staff, according to advocates, while others accepted the Trump administration’s “buyout,” reducing the WTCHP total staff by approximately 20 percent.
“Slashing funding and laying off workers who run this vital program will have a devastating impact on its ability to provide sick responders and survivors with the care they need,” Gillibrand wrote.
“This is a betrayal of our heroes who stepped up and risked their lives to put our community back together in one of our nation’s darkest hours, and we will not let it stand,” she continued. “HHS Secretary Kennedy must reverse these cuts and terminations immediately.”
