Top GOP Senator Asks RFK Jr. To Reverse Cuts At Miner Safety Agency

Source: Huff Post

Apr 23, 2025, 11:16 AM EDT | Updated 5 hours ago


WASHINGTON ― A top Republican senator is calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse layoffs at a key government office aimed at preventing work-related injuries and illnesses.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the No. 4 Republican in the Senate, warned that the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) would harm the health and well-being of coal miners, a key industry in her state. “I believe in the President’s vision to right size our government, but I do not think eliminating the NIOSH coal programs and research will accomplish that goal,” Capito wrote in a letter to RFK Jr. on Tuesday.

“The mission and work conducted by the specially trained NIOSH employees is not duplicative of any other government program.” “I am concerned that the [reductions in force] at NIOSH will undermine the vital health programs important to so many West Virginians,” she added. “I urge you to bring back the NIOSH employees immediately so they can continue to support our nation’s coal industry.”

Capito said the reduction in force at the agency would negatively impact a program that studies respiratory disease and provides black lung screenings to coal miners. She warned that eliminating “dedicated scientists with years of training” would lead to the closure of specialized laboratories focused on miner safety. “Decommissioning the labs will cost millions of taxpayer dollars. If the labs were to later be brought back online, additional taxpayer dollars would be spent to re-comply with numerous regulations and inspections,” the senator pointed out.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rfk-jr-hhs-cuts-capito_n_6808f3dde4b0deaad527718a