Trump Administration Halts, then Restarts, World Trade Center Health Program Applications and Treatment; Fires One-Fifth of Staff
Chaos and uncertainty surrounding the World Trade Center Health Program resumed last week, when a series of developments cast doubt on the future of the initiative, which for the last 15 years has been providing (with bipartisan support) specialized care tailored to the 80-plus diseases (including more than 60 kinds of cancer) known to be caused by exposure to toxic debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Last Monday, multiple New York-area clinics devoted to providing WTC Health Program services to first responders and survivors (defined as those who lived, worked, or attended school in the area surrounding Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, or in the months that followed) stopped offering treatment and halted new certifications for conditions such as cancer.
On Wednesday, leaked federal government documents revealed that, contrary to assurances from the administration of President Donald Trump, Dr. John Howard, the program’s administrator (who had been fired in late March, followed by an announcement in early April that he would be rehired, apparently in response to bipartisan criticism from federal legislators), had not returned to his former post. An April 11 email (dated almost a week after the Trump White House announced that Dr. Howard had been rehired) from Lauren Cimineri, the WTC Health Program’s benefits branch chief, acknowledged to an undisclosed recipient, “unfortunately, we have not been able to resume sending program letters, including enrollment or certification letters. We are still waiting on confirmation of Dr Howard’s status.”
“Every month the Health Program enrolls 700 to 800 new responders and survivors needing care and since April 1, it is our understanding that no 9/11 responder or survivor has been enrolled in the program,” said Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 911 Health Watch, a nonprofit that seeks to ensure the federal government’s continued, long-term commitment to the health and well-being of September 11 responders, survivors and their families. “The Health Program has officially informed the World Trade Center Clinical Centers of Excellence that they could not enroll new members, as there is no one to sign off on these applications.” (The only person legally authorized to approve such applications is the program administrator, a post that has been vacant since Dr. Howard was removed.)
A further consequence of this uncertainty is that first responders and survivors seeking payments from the World Trade Center Victims Compensation Fund will likely face delays. The processing of such payments is contingent on the applicant’s condition first being certified by the WTC Health Program.
By Thursday, program clinics in the New York area once again resumed treating and certifying (at least on a provisional basis) responders and survivors. A second email from Ms. Cimineri announced to internal staff, “we are able to resume processing enrollments, certifications, and letters at this time. Expedites have also been processed.”
But finally, on Friday, May 2, 16 members of the Health Program staff were notified that they were being dismissed. This amounts to 20 percent of the remaining staff members, where ranks had already thinned by prior rounds of cuts imposed by the Trump administration. A memorandum from Tom Nagy, the chief human capital officer at the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency that oversees the WTC Health Program, informed these 16 staff members, “in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14210, dated February 11, 2025, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) broader reorganization strategy to improve its efficiency and effectiveness to make America healthier, HHS is executing a Reduction in Force (RIF). This memorandum constitutes a specific notice of a RIF. I regret to inform you that you are being affected by a RIF action. This RIF is necessary to reshape the workforce of HHS.” This move reprises a similar action in February, when approximately one-fifth of program staff were fired, followed by an announcement that they would all be hired back.
Mr. Chevat said, “since the Trump administration started, a quarter of the Health Program staff are now gone. This is an outrageous betrayal of September 11 responders and survivors. While the World Trade Center Health Program is apparently back providing treatment to 9/11 responders and survivors who were just diagnosed with cancer, after earlier denying treatment, the question is for how long?”
An HHS spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, but the agency’s press office said in a May 2 social media post, “no… employee was terminated on Friday. A required notice was sent to… employees, following the agreed-upon standard process with the union. Firefighter health and safety programs remain a top priority for HHS. As the agency continues to streamline operations, the essential services… will remain fully intact and uninterrupted.”