New York State’s two senators have co-written a letter to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. expressing their opposition to recent cuts made to the CDC and World Trade Center Health Program.
Senators Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand told Kennedy, who was confirmed as a U.S. Secretary on Thursday with no Democratic senators voting in favor, their concerns about the cuts’ impact on people’s health.
“It is extremely worrisome that the Trump administration’s proposals to indiscriminately cut federal employees will have a direct impact on the quality and accessibility of care provided to those who answered the call on 9/11 and are now sick with respiratory ailments, cancer and other conditions,” the letter said.
The CDC lost roughly a tenth of its staff after the White House fired all probationary employees at the Department of Health and Human Services last week, according to published reports. That resulted in roughly 20% of the World Trade Center Health Program’s staff being let go.
The letter calls the staff reduction “nonsensical and dangerous ” and says it “puts the effective functioning of this vital program at risk.”
In the letter, the senators requested a briefing by the HHS and CDC detailing the changes that have been made to the World Trade Center Health Program and how these changes will directly impact the program’s capacity to provide lifesaving care, as well as for Kennedy to provide his plans as secretary to strengthen the services provided to 9/11 first responders and survivors.
Schumer and Gillibrand noted that when they met with Kennedy prior to his confirmation, he had committed to working with Congress to ensure that 9/11 first responders and survivors would continue to receive care.
A press release issued by Schumer’s office had an anecdote from Anthony Gardner, a former World Trade Center Health Program employee who was fired. He had lost his brother on 9/11 and had worked for the organization for the past three years.
“The recent staffing cuts are particularly detrimental to those who receive care or are applying to receive care through the program because they cross all of its critical service areas, including medical health benefits, health condition certifications, enrollment, member communications, and research,” Gardner said.
The World Trade Center Health Program provides medical treatment to roughly 132,000 Americans across all 50 states (as of March 2024), giving first responders, survivors, 9/11 military and civilian responders screenings, services, research and medications at no cost.
