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.

They warn the deep job cuts likely include workers supporting the health program, which provides medical care for those sickened by toxic smoke and debris from the Twin Towers' collapse.

What You Need To Know

  • 9/11 community advocates warn cuts at HHS likely include workers that support the health program, which provides medical care for those sickened by toxic smoke and debris from the Twin Towers' collapse

  • New York’s U.S. senators condemned the Trump administration, while GOP congressmen urged the White House to reverse the cuts

  • HHS says the layoffs are part of a phased reorganization to “Make America Healthy Again"

  • The 9/11 health program has already faced setbacks, including a now-reversed 20% staff reduction

The program relies on doctors at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to evaluate survivors and first responders and certify they have 9/11-related illnesses. Without them, advocates argue, patient access to care will be undermined.

“People are sick and dying, and we have to fight again—again—because of their gross incompetence,” said John Feal, a 9/11 community advocate. “Shame on Donald Trump, shame on Elon Musk, and shame on [HHS Secretary] Robert Kennedy Jr.”

Feal, a participant in the health program, worked at the World Trade Center site after the attack. The program paid for his surgeries, he said.

New York’s U.S. senators, both Democrats, condemned the Trump administration.

“If you are slashing doctors and providers from NIOSH, it just means our 9/11 first responders and family members will get less service and less knowledgeable service,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

“We’re abandoning the people who ran to the Towers,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer. “It's not efficiency, it's cruelty, it’s meanness, and fundamentally it is anti-American.”

In a letter sent Wednesday night to Kennedy, Schumer demanded HHS “promptly rehire the NIOSH staff essential to carrying out the WTCHP mission.” The letter was first shared with Spectrum News.

Republican Reps. Mike Lawler and Andrew Garbarino said they have reached out to the White House about the cuts.

“Congressman Lawler and his [New York] Republican colleagues recognize concerns that staffing cuts at NIOSH could impact the WTC Health Program. The congressman has been in contact with the White House and has asked for the decision to be reversed,” Lawler’s office said.

“I have already met with the White House. They understand that this is a top priority and are treating it with a sense of urgency,” Garbarino said in a statement.

Spectrum News reached out to White House, HHS, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for comment.

An HHS spokesperson said the agency’s reorganization is happening in phases and referred Spectrum News to a post from Kennedy, in which he wrote, “This overhaul is about realigning HHS with its core mission: to stop the chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again. It’s a win-win for taxpayers, and for every American we serve.”

The latest HHS cuts follow a tumultuous few months for the 9/11 health program.

In December, then-President-elect Trump and Musk derailed legislation that included long-term federal funding for the program. In February, the Trump White House implemented a 20% reduction to the health program’s staff, which was later reversed after bipartisan outcry. 

“We would have thought that they would have learned their lesson, that they touched the stove and weren’t going to do it again,” said Benjamin Chevat, a 9/11 community advocate and executive director of Citizens for Extension of the James Zadroga Act.

“It’s just gross incompetence or it’s intentional. I don’t really know which it is,” he added.