New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote a letter to newly appointed Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday, condemning the current “nonsensical and dangerous” 20% staffing cuts to the World Commerce Middle Well being Program. The cuts jeopardize the power to ship well being care to these affected by 9/11-related well being circumstances, together with respiratory illnesses and cancers.
The letter urges Kennedy to reverse the staffing cuts and requests a briefing from the HHS and the CDC on the modifications made to the WTCHP and their direct impression on this system’s capability to serve enrollees. The letter additionally known as out Kennedy’s hypocrisy, citing a former dialog he had with the senators earlier than his affirmation the place he vowed to guard 9/11 entry to care.
One of many first responders, John Feal, whose group FealGood Basis helps 9/11 responders entry monetary help packages and remedy for 9/11-induced diseases, appeared on New York’s Information 12 on Sunday to talk out towards the mass firing. Feal known as the cuts “inhumane.”
“The World Trade Center Health Program is a lifeline to 137,000 people—9/11 heroes, volunteers, and those who lived, and worked and went to school in Lower Manhattan,” Feal mentioned. “And these people now who are dealing with severe respiratory illnesses, severe cancers—there’s over 30,000 people with a certified cancer. That means when those people are cut and no longer work for the federal government, they cut 20% of that staff. That staff is responsible for certifying people’s illnesses, that staff is responsible to ensure that there’s no fraud, that staff is responsible to ensure that research continues.”
Feal added that he and a bunch of first responders and political leaders will head to Washington, D.C., subsequent week to foyer for the $3 billion wanted to fund the WTCHP by way of 2090.
Schumer took to X on Tuesday to inform his constituents he’s combating on their behalf.
“The Trump HHS is breaking the sacred promise to always stand by our 9/11 heroes by slashing funding and vital staffing for their healthcare in the World Trade Center Health Program,” he mentioned. “It’s unacceptable. I’m fighting to get Secretary Kennedy to reverse these cuts and firings NOW to provide for those who answered the call of duty on 9/11.”
This comes as Kennedy, below the course of the White Home and Elon Musk’s chaotic Division of Authorities Effectivity, fired an estimated 3,600 public well being staff throughout the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, CDC and Meals and Drug Administration over the weekend, prompting staff to name it the “Valentine’s Day massacre.”
DOGE has taken it upon itself to intestine the federal authorities. In lower than a month, it has performed mass firings or buyouts of presidency company staff on the United States Company of Worldwide Growth, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Division of Training, the FBI, and the CIA.
Whether or not it’s hypocrisy or pathetic fealty to Trump, brave Individuals who risked their lives to save lots of others on 9/11 deserve the care they now want—to not be forged apart by a president and his billionaire ally intent on dismantling human decency.
