Under pressure, HHS reinstates hundreds of occupational health workers

After facing considerable pushback from labor organizations and congressional lawmakers, the Trump administration has reversed course on some of its planned layoffs at the federal health agency responsible for overseeing workplace safety.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, was slated to lose at least 900 workers, which represents more than 90% of the entire agency workforce.

But a federal lawsuit brought by a coal miner and a push among some members of Congress — including Republicans from West Virginia — appear to have prompted the Department of Health and Human Services to reinstate some critical programs.

Altogether 328 employees at NIOSH were reinstated, according to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr., who was questioned about the layoffs during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

While he didn’t provide many details, Kennedy did say the rehired workers were based at NIOSH facilities in Morgantown, W.Va., and Cincinnati, as well as at the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides services to first responders and survivors of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Deep cuts to NIOSH remain

“I welcome the return of some NIOSH scientists, but this isn’t the NIOSH that all American workers need,” said Dr. Robert Harrison, who directs the Occupational Health Program at the University of California San Francisco.

He said the cuts continue to jeopardize the agency’s mission to keep workers in many other industries safe — from construction and agriculture to warehouses and restaurants.

“All of these workers need the advice and protections that NIOSH gives,” he says.

Among the people being brought back are staff involved with investigating workplace hazards like cancer clusters, testing and certifying personal protective equipment and addressing respiratory health in coal miners and other workers, according to interviews with several NIOSH employees and an internal email from the agency’s director.

“While we celebrate with those who received a rescission letter from HHS, I am mindful that others did not,” wrote NIOSH director John Howard in an email to staff on Tuesday. “I am hopeful that we can continue to make the case for reinstating everyone at NIOSH.”

Howard was first appointed to the top post at the institute during the George W. Bush administration and later re-appointed by President Barack Obama.

RFK Jr. faces criticism on Capitol Hill

The move to bring back some NIOSH employees came on the eve of Kennedy’s Wednesday appearance in front of two congressional committees on his department’s proposed 2026 budget.

In both hearings, Kennedy was grilled about the rationale for eliminating much of the federal agency, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In one exchange, Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, asked Kennedy why the National Firefighter Register for Cancer had stopped enrollment, which is clearly stated on the federal website.

“I don’t know about that,” Kennedy answered.

In response to questioning from Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper on the loss of staff in his state of Colorado and elsewhere in the West who were focused on the health risks for firefighters, Kennedy pointed to the need to reduce the federal debt and said that “a lot of the cuts that we’re implementing now are painful.”

After employees were notified in April that they would lose their jobs, the Trump administration maintained that critical services would remain intact and be streamlined as a part of the new agency within HHS being created by Kennedy.

But people at NIOSH told NPR that key functions had come to a standstill because of the huge disruptions. And even with the reversal of some cuts, many others involved in studying and preventing toxic chemicals and workplace hazards are still slated to be laid off.

For example, more than 140 employees in Spokane, Wash., and Pittsburgh who work on mining safety and research — everything from preventing mine explosions to machine accidents — are being cut.

“While I’m extremely happy to return to my job with the [National Firefighter Registry for Cancer] team, the union is determined to continue to advocate for full reinstatement of all NIOSH employees. All NIOSH programs are important for the health and safety of working people in this country,” said Micah Niemeier-Walsh, vice president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3840, representing employees at NIOSH in Cincinnati.