HHS Has 20 Days To Bring Back Staff Who Examine Miners For Lung Disease
Almost 200 workers in NIOSH’s respiratory health division were let go last month, a move that the Department of Health and Human Services doesn't have "the authority to unilaterally cancel,” U.S. District Judge Irene Berger ruled. Also: some workers have received notices rescinding their layoffs.
AP:
Judge Orders Restoration Of Jobs In Health Program For West Virginia Coal Miners
A judge on Tuesday ordered the restoration of a health monitoring program for coal miners in West Virginia and rescinded layoffs the federal government implemented in a unit of a small U.S. health agency. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by a coal miner who was diagnosed with a respiratory ailment commonly known as black lung disease. (Raby, 5/14)
CBS News:
Head Of Worker Safety Agency NIOSH Restored, Ahead Of RFK Jr. Hearing
The head of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and a handful of teams at the agency had their layoff notices rescinded Tuesday, multiple officials say, and several worker safety programs that had been eliminated by layoffs last month are being restored. Letters reversing the layoffs arrived in the inboxes of some NIOSH staff a day ahead of House and Senate hearings Wednesday with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. where he was expected to face questions about the layoffs. (Tin, 5/13)
CNN:
Trump Administration Cut $2.7 Billion In NIH Research Funding Through March, Senate Committee Minority Report Says
A Senate committee report by minority staff, and obtained by CNN, slams the Trump administration for terminating some funding for research, firing thousands of federal workers and removing certain scientific data from government websites. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s minority staff report, released Tuesday and authored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, says that in the first three months of this year, the Trump administration cut $2.7 billion in National Institutes of Health funding for research. (Howard, 5/13)
The Hill:
House Democrats: HHS Funding Cuts To LGBTQ Suicide Hotline Will Have ‘Lethal Consequences’
More than 100 House Democrats urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to spare a crisis service for LGBTQ youth from federal funding cuts, calling the plan, part of a leaked budget proposal, “ill-advised” and dangerous in a letter addressed Tuesday to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. An internal budget document first reported last month by The Washington Post would eliminate specialized services for LGBTQ youth who contact 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, as part of a broader Trump administration effort to slash funding and programs it says are bloating the federal government. (Migdon, 5/13)
AP:
20 Democratic Attorneys General Sue Trump Administration Over Conditions Placed On Federal Funds
A coalition of 20 state Democratic attorneys general filed two federal lawsuits on Tuesday, claiming that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in transportation and disaster-relief funds unless states agree to certain immigration enforcement actions. According to the complaints, both Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have threatened to cut off funding to states that refuse to comply with President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. (Kruesi, 5/14)
In other Trump administration news —
KFF Health News:
Trump’s Fast-Tracked Deal For A Copper Mine Heightens Existential Fight For Apache
Carrying eagle feathers and chanting prayers, Western Apache runners hit the road on a roughly 80-mile journey this month to try to save their sacred land from being fast-tracked by President Donald Trump into a copper mine. This nationally watched battle, which hinges on religious freedom, awaits the U.S. Supreme Court. The prayer run aimed to defend a 6-square-mile piece of land in rural Arizona outside of Phoenix called Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, or Oak Flat, where tribes have held ceremonies for centuries. (Bailey, 5/14)
