Trump Regime Fires Firefighter Safety Inspectors and 9/11 Heroes - A Blow to Health and Justice

On April 1, 2025, the first shock came: The Trump administration began mass layoffs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Particularly affected was the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, that small team dedicated to understanding why firefighters die in the line of duty - and how future deaths could be prevented. Seven of the program’s eight members were terminated. In total, two-thirds of all NIOSH staff are set to go. The layoffs were abrupt: Most employees had to vacate their offices the same day. Lab animals were euthanized because no one was left to care for them. A test tunnel beneath the Pittsburgh campus was at risk of flooding. “It was pure chaos,” one employee described the situation. At the same time, ongoing investigations into firefighter deaths at 20 departments were halted. The tragic purpose of the work - to learn from accidents in order to save lives - was shattered in an instant. Especially dramatic is the shutdown of the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, a large-scale study of cancer rates among firefighters. Over 23,000 firefighters had already registered, with a goal of 200,000. Now the researchers are gone, the portal offline. A study that promised unique insights is being destroyed. The Trump regime and Elon Musk, no longer active at the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), remained silent about the layoffs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) merely stated that legally mandated programs would “somehow” continue - a claim that, in light of the missing staff, is hardly credible.

One particularly grave aspect concerns the World Trade Center Health Program, created specifically for first responders and rescue workers after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This program too is now effectively on the chopping block due to the layoffs. The World Trade Center Health Program provides medical examinations, treatments, and ongoing health monitoring for firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and other personnel who served at Ground Zero. Many of these heroes still suffer from severe illnesses such as cancer and respiratory diseases. Without qualified personnel, proper care is barely possible. Even 9/11 first responders are among those let go. Particularly shocking: several of the terminated NIOSH employees were themselves first responders in New York on 9/11. They had not only supported the rebuilding and later health research, but they lived with the long-term consequences. Names are not being released for privacy, but internal reports confirm: at least two of the dismissed scientists were among the firefighters and rescue workers active at Ground Zero. Thus, the staffing cuts hit precisely those who helped when America needed them most. These are people who later used their knowledge and experience to save lives - and who are now being abandoned by the very government that otherwise loves to posture patriotically. Diane Cotter, wife of a 9/11 firefighter and activist, called it “a disgrace that should not be omitted from any history book.”

The layoffs did not only affect jobs. They are an assault on the health and dignity of those who risk their lives to save others. “It breaks my heart,” said one longtime NIOSH investigator. “We are destroying programs that made real progress.” Micah Niemeier-Walsh of the AFGE Local 3840 union called the mass terminations “an attack on American workers.” And Diane Cotter, activist and wife of a firefighter suffering from prostate cancer, emphasized: “Programs like the registry are sacred. We must fight for them.” At a time when climate change and extreme wildfire seasons challenge the United States, the government chooses dismantling over protection. The real cost will become apparent later - in lost lives, preventable illnesses, and a society that abandons its heroes. The last to go: Anthony Gardner, one of the heroes of 9/11, who had been notified of his impending dismissal as early as February 2025. A man who survived - and was still cast aside by his own country.

And finally:
Welles Crowther - “The man in the red bandana” (9/11) “All those who can stand, stand now. Anyone who can help others, do it.”
„Alle, die stehen können, steht jetzt auf. Wer anderen helfen kann, soll es tun.“

Investigative journalism requires courage, conviction, and means.