Trump Admin Asks Laid-off Firefighter And Coal Mining Safety Research Staff Back Temporarily

The Trump administration is calling back to work some laid off federal employees who focused on the health and safety of coal miners, firefighters, and survivors of 9/11, a Republican senator and a national union of firefighters said Tuesday.

But the reprieve may be temporary, lasting only through June 2, and the future of the programs, which are part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, remains in doubt.

An HHS spokesperson said, “it could be a possibility that [certain NIOSH employees] will be brought back permanently.”

NIOSH was one of several agencies gutted this month when tens of thousands of employees were laid off as part of a sweeping reorganization of the federal health department.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said shortly after the mass firings that as much as 20 percent of employees might be brought back “because we all make mistakes.” And on Sunday, Kennedy signaled that the administration may be rethinking some cuts in a post on X, writing: “Firefighter health and safety programs remain a top priority … As the agency continues to streamline its operations, critical services of NIOSH will remain intact.”

HHS has also brought back laid off food safety inspectors.

Two NIOSH employees — one recently called back from administrative leave, the other whose job was not impacted by the cuts — told POLITICO that human resources called the workers this week and asked them to come back to “close out” the work they had been doing. That includes teams tracking cancer rates in firefighters and providing health services to survivors of 9/11. But the employees stressed that nothing official is in writing. Both employees were granted anonymity for fear of retribution.

“Everyone is very suspicious that this is just being done to create the appearance that HHS is addressing concerns,” said one of the employees. “But programs will still be effectively eliminated in June.”

A third NIOSH employee, also granted anonymity for fear of retribution, said the office focused on health and safety in the coal industry “was told to stop using [administrative] leave and come into the office, but their termination dates are still the same,” adding that similar directives were sent to some employees who work on the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program.

The news follows weeks of bipartisan criticism about the Trump administration purging tens of thousands of staff from the CDC, NIOSH and other health agencies, which has brought several programs dedicated to worker-safety research to a halt.

The International Association of Fire Fighters took credit for the reversal in a statement Tuesday, saying the administration’s decision to restore some employees comes after “direct talks” between the union and Kennedy.

IAFF President Edward A. Kelly said in a statement that Kennedy blamed unnamed federal workers for making the cuts and claimed the core functions of teams working on firefighter health and safety would remain intact.

“It was explained to me that the Reduction in Force (RIF) ordered by a White House Executive Order was misinterpreted by ‘mid-level bureaucrats,’ and our programs — which Secretary Kennedy assured me were ‘critical’ — would continue,” he wrote.

But Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who represents workers at NIOSH’s Morgantown office who were laid off en masse on April 1, told POLITICO on Tuesday that she’s concerned the gutted programs won’t be permanently restored.

“They did call some people back, which we're very pleased about,” she said. “But in terms of the technicalities of permanent [reduction in force], I think that still does loom out there.”

Capito said she has met with Kennedy several times to express opposition to the layoffs, and is “going to keep pushing” until the workers are permanently rehired.

“The cuts to NIOSH, on Black Lung in particular, were very concerning to me, because nobody else does this,” she said of the research and treatment the agency provides to sick coal miners, describing herself as “cautiously optimistic” that the temporary recall will stretch past the scheduled June cutoff.

American Federation of Government Employees Local 3430 President Cathy Tinney-Zara noted in a statement that the "reinstatement does not include all impacted employees," but appears to target "programs currently in the media spotlight."

"These are undoubtedly vital initiatives, but they are only a portion of the comprehensive, nationwide worker protection mission NIOSH fulfills," Tinney-Zara said.