"The Trump administration temporarily rehired as many as 40 employees who screen coal miners for the deadly and incurable disease."
"The Trump administration on Tuesday temporarily reinstated dozens of fired federal workers who help screen coal miners for black lung, a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust.
The unusual move comes after The Washington Post reported that the layoffs had forced the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to suspend the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program for the first time in a half-century.
It also follows pushback from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), whose state ranks as the nation’s second-largest coal producer. Capito said in an interview Tuesday that she had implored Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse the cuts during a phone call last week.
Capito said between 30 and 40 fired NIOSH employees would be temporarily brought back to the agency. She added that she had heard from coal miners who were anxiously awaiting word from NIOSH about whether they could receive federal black lung benefits."
Maxine Joselow reports for the Washington Post April 29, 2025.
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