Trump Admin Cancels Layoffs For Some Health Workers Ahead Of Kennedy Hearing

The Trump administration on Tuesday asked some of the thousands of federal public health workers it laid off to return permanently, according to emails shared with POLITICO.

The move reinstates employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health — which lost more than 90 percent of its workforce, several hundred people, as part of the administration’s broader purge of tens of thousands of federal health agency staffers last month.

“You previously received a notice regarding the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) upcoming reduction in force (RIF). That notice is hereby revoked. You will not be affected by the upcoming RIF,” read one NIOSH employee’s notice, seen by POLITICO.

The letters followed weeks of outcry from lawmakers, labor unions and public health experts who described the devastating effects the cuts could have, and one day before Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to make his first public appearance before Congress since his confirmation.

Kennedy has said HHS is filled with duplicative and wasteful offices and needs to be slashed, but has over the last month walked back many of the cuts, including to offices that processed Freedom of Information requests and researched women’s health.

On Tuesday, letters went to workers on several NIOSH teams gutted April, including the Respiratory Health Division, the Division of Safety Research, the Division of Compensation and Analysis Support, the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, and part of the Division of Field Studies and Surveillance. These offices, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducted research and provided direct services to workers in fields with high health and safety risks, including firefighters with cancer and coal miners with Black Lung Disease.

An HHS spokesperson declined to answer how many employees received similar notices, but said in a statement that the workers were rehired because “the Trump Administration remains committed to supporting coal miners, who play a vital role in America’s energy sector” and recognizes “the courage and selflessness of firefighters, who embody the principle that public service is the highest calling.”

The administration has defended the cuts as lawful “streamlining” of a “bloated” agency, but a judge Friday night deemed them likely unconstitutional and blocked them temporarily. The Department of Justice is appealing the decision.

Kennedy heads to the Hill Wednesday to testify before House and Senate committees about the president’s budget, the first opportunity for lawmakers to grill him about the mass layoffs and his sweeping overhaul of the Department of Health and Human Services. According to Kennedy’s prepared remarks, posted by the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, he plans to defend ongoing efforts to "cut government bloat," promising "significant workforce reductions" in the months ahead. The opening statement makes no mention of NIOSH, but says the agency will become “more responsive and efficient, while ensuring that Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential health services remain intact.”

“Democrats are going to hold Senator Kennedy's feet to the fire,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said during a Tuesday press conference. “We'll demand answers about the cuts and the firings. We'll demand answers about the chaos, confusion and uncertainty.”

Most of the divisions restored Tuesday are based at NIOSH’s Morgantown, West Virginia facility, though some are headquartered at the agency’s outpost in Cincinnati, Ohio. In a Tuesday email to staff, seen by POLITICO, NIOSH Director John Howard noted that only a fraction of workers whose jobs were recently eliminated have been asked back, and said he would “continue to make the case for reinstating everyone.” But he called the partial cancellation of layoffs “a recognition of the importance of much of our work.”

Howard’s email did not specify how many workers were impacted. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents NIOSH workers and recently sued the administration over the cuts, said it’s working to determine how many layoff notices were rescinded. The union confirmed, however, that some of the reinstated employees are on teams that manage the congressionally mandated National Firefighter Cancer Registry, Health Hazard Evaluation program, and Respirator Approval Program.

HHS officials have repeatedly pledged to maintain these programs, but government websites say they are no longer operating, and NIOSH workers told POLITICO legally required data collection and health and safety investigations were halted by the cuts.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said Tuesday that Kennedy promised her in a phone call that “over 100 [NIOSH] Morgantown employees will be returning to the job permanently.”

The administration slashed around 400 jobs at the West Virginia outpost of NIOSH — including 185 union members. Some were called back a few weeks later, but told they would be laid off permanently in June or July.