A federal health program for 9/11 responders is still short-staffed

Por Ben Johansen — POLITICO – TOP Stories

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the number of first responders and survivors suffering from illnesses related to that day is still growing. But the federal health program responsible for their care has fewer staff than it did at the start of the Trump administration.

That’s due in large part to the lingering effects of DOGE-driven layoffs and reductions in force, hiring freezes and program slowdowns that have whipsawed the agency since the start of Trump’s second term. Though two rounds of layoffs were later reversed, advocates say buyouts and other departures have hobbled the agency’s primary function: ensuring those who helped rescue people and clean up the wreckage of 9/11 have medical care and support.

The World Trade Center Health Program’s employee count fell from 93 at the beginning of 2025 to 83 by spring amid attempts to shrink the federal payroll.

“Those cuts were reversed, but the systemic problems were not fixed,” Ben Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, a 9/11 responder and survivor advocacy group, told POLITICO.

In April, HHS allowed the program to begin filling 37 vacant positions, but rebuilding the workforce has been slow.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said “As a native New Yorker himself, President Trump is deeply committed to ensuring those who sacrificed for their country on September 11, 2001 will always have the care they deserve. That’s why Secretary Kennedy took the initiative to reverse any cuts previously made, filling nearly 40 positions and reappointing the head of the program. Under both of their leadership, HHS will always ensure the vital World Trade Center Health Program has the resources it needs.”

Chevat disputed that figure, saying so far only four people have been hired, though more are under consideration. Asked to elaborate on any potential discrepancy, Schuster referred questions to HHS. HHS did not respond to a request for comment.

The program also spent months facing uncertainty over its leadership. Dr. John Howard, who has run the program since its creation, was approaching the end of his six-year term without word from HHS about whether he would be reappointed, prompting a bipartisan group of lawmakers to press Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a decision. Kennedy reappointed Howard this week, before his term was set to expire in November.

The program provides medical monitoring and treatment for more than 140,000 first responders and survivors with conditions linked to their exposure to the attacks and its wreckage, including cancers and respiratory illnesses. Its staff largely oversee and administer that care rather than provide it directly, handling contracts, research, enrollment and other approvals, work that advocates and medical professionals say has halted as staffing has fallen.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who pushed the administration to reverse the original cuts last year, said the program still needs more staff and resources even after Congress secured permanent funding for it and HHS reappointed Howard.

“These are important steps forward, and now we need to make sure the Program has the staffing and resources necessary to provide responders and survivors with the care they deserve,” Garbarino said in a statement.

The staffing crunch comes as the health consequences of the attacks continue to mount. A new New York City Fire Department report released ahead of the anniversary found more than 10,000 FDNY members have been certified with a 9/11-related physical health condition.

Dr. David Prezant, chief medical officer of the New York City Fire Department, said the program is doing “the best it can” despite the staffing shortage. But while the positions themselves have been restored, filling them has become painfully slow.

“They are at most replacing two to four every few months, which is going to take years to get back what they have lost,” Prezant said.

Direct patient care has largely returned to normal after last year’s upheaval, according to a person familiar with the matter, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But other parts of the program, the person said, remain bogged down. Contracting remains slower, decisions — including what illnesses qualify — are taking longer to be made and requests for program changes that require federal approval sit unanswered for months.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said, “As a native New Yorker himself, President Trump is deeply committed to ensuring those who sacrificed for their country on September 11, 2001 will always have the care they deserve. That’s why Secretary Kennedy took the initiative to reverse any cuts previously made, filling nearly 40 positions and reappointing the head of the program. Under both of their leadership, HHS will always ensure the vital World Trade Center Health Program has the resources it needs.”

Prezant and other leaders of the program’s clinical centers petitioned the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to add ischemic cardiovascular disease, a process he said took years before the government denied the request in June. They have appealed and are still awaiting responses to separate petitions involving systemic autoimmune diseases and cognitive and memory deficits.

“The time for them to evaluate conditions has and continues to be a very long process,” Prezant said, adding that the process “need[s] to be expedited because treatment is being denied to these people.”

The staffing problems have also disrupted the roughly $20 million in research grants the program can award each year to study 9/11-related illnesses, according to Chevat.

“This research is not research on fruit flies,” Prezant said. “This research is very clinical oriented,” helping doctors determine what diseases are emerging among people exposed to 9/11, which treatments are working and which new conditions should be covered.

The program is also preparing for a major transition between outside contractors that help administer care, which Chevat argues will be difficult to oversee with the depleted federal workforce.

“I am watching a crash happening,” he said, pointing to the combination of staffing shortages and upcoming administrative changes. “They are going to have a transition, and they do not have the staff to supervise that transition.”

Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories