World Trade Center Health Program layoffs will impact 9/11 survivors, officials say
There is outrage over the Trump administration's decision to lay off staff at the World Trade Center Health Program, with many saying the cuts will impact health care for 9/11 survivors.
The Trump administration approved layoffs at the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
"It just shows you they have no idea what they're doing"
Uniformed Firefighters' Association President Andrew Ansbro is a lifelong service member. He was a first responder on 9/11, and says he's been diagnosed with 9/11-related skin cancer.
"If I was diagnosed with another skin cancer tomorrow, it's not getting treated. Because no one at [the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] is going to approve the treatment because there's no one there anymore. They just got rid of them," Ansbro said.
Longtime NIOSH director Dr. John Howard was among those laid off. He also helped design the World Trade Center Health Program.
"Dr. Howard has been with NIOSH for 24 years. He was given another six-year term by Donald Trump five years ago. The fact that they would just get rid of him now after all this time and experience and his time with the program, it just shows you they have no idea what they're doing," Howard said.
There is fear and outrage that as the program is being dismantled, research, treatment and potential grants will be in jeopardy.
"Cops, firefighters, students, teachers who were downtown, all the office workers, there's no one to certify them with these cancers now, so they can't get compensated by the Victim Compensation Fund," 9/11 lawyer Michael Barasch said.
"This is a betrayal of the 9/11 families"
This isn't the first time employees from the World Trade Center Health Program were laid off. President Trump reinstated staff that were let go earlier this year.
"This is a betrayal, a betrayal of the 9/11 families," Sen. Chuck Schumer said.
Schumer is demanding Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reverse the decision, saying he doesn't believe the cuts have anything to do with efficiency.
"He made a commitment to me, an unequivocal commitment that he would protect the World Trade Center Health Program. These firings break that promise," Schumer said.
Long Island Congressman Andrew Garbarino says he met with the White House about the cuts Wednesday, saying, "They understand that this is top priority and are treating it with a sense of urgency."
Members on both sides of the aisle are vowing to challenge the decision, saying or else 9/11 survivors may be deprived of life-saving treatment.