Feds moving to fill some vacancies at WTC health program, lawmakers say
Firefighters work in the rubble of the World Trade Center towers in New York on Sept. 12, 2001. Credit: AP/VIRGIL CASE
WASHINGTON — With the 25th Anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approaching, the Trump administration is moving to fill some of the three-dozen job vacancies at the World Trade Center Health Program by transferring workers from other agencies and issuing temporary assignments, according to New York lawmakers briefed on the plans.
The federal program grants healthcare to those who have fallen ill from exposure to the toxic dust from the 9/11 attack sites. But is has been grappling with service delays caused by the staffing shortages and members of Long Island’s congressional delegation are continuing to press the administration to move faster.
The program, which is authorized to employ 120 federal workers, is down to roughly 78 employees after the administration launched a massive downsizing of the federal workforce following President Donald Trump’s return to office. While the delegation has fought to protect and restore jobs at the health program, it has still been operating with fewer employees than the 93 it started with when Trump was sworn in to office in January of last year.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), who earlier this year convened a closed-door briefing between Department of Health and Human Services officials and New York House Republicans demanding to address the staffing shortages, told Newsday he requested an update this week and was told progress was being made toward filling about a dozen of the empty posts.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The Trump Administration is moving to fill some of the three-dozen job vacancies at the World Trade Center Health Program by transferring workers from other agencies and issuing temporary assignments, according to New York lawmakers.
- The federal program, which grants healthcare to those who have fallen ill from exposure to the toxic dust from the 9/11 attack sites, is grappling with service delays caused by the staffing shortages
- Members of Long Island’s congressional delegation are continuing to press the administration to move faster.
"According to the WTC Health Program, the initial four positions that were posted have closed and are now in the candidate review process," LaLota said in a statement. "The program also says four additional positions are moving through the posting process, it has added two full-time employees through lateral transfers, temporarily detailed three additional staff members, and is pursuing several other hiring pathways to accelerate staffing."
LaLota and other lawmakers told Newsday there needs to be a greater sense of urgency in hiring more workers, and others raised concerns about the short-term nature of temporarily assigning workers from other programs to fill the vacancies.
"I appreciate that these are steps in the right direction, but my expectation remains unchanged: more vacancies should be filled as quickly as possible," LaLota said. "Our 9/11 responders and survivors should never have to wait because of government staffing delays."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) told Newsday in an email: "The Trump administration’s lack of urgency in filling the vacancies at the World Trade Center Health Program is completely unacceptable."
"I received assurances months ago that these hires would be made quickly, but HHS now appears to be slow-walking the posting of dozens of jobs," Gillibrand said. "Our brave 9/11 first responders and survivors deserve better."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the administration needed "to pick up the pace so the WTCHP, which [Congress] fully funded, can provide the first-rate services all our 9/11 heroes earned and deserve."
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), who last year pressed the White House to restore several program workers who had been terminated, said in an email to Newsday that it is "encouraging to see progress being made."
The staffing shortages come at a time that the program has "grown by over 30,000 people in the last three years" seeking care for diseases tied to their exposure to the attack sites, said Ben Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, a group that advocated for the creation of the program.
"In a normal HHS there would no issue with the program being able to hire 37 staff by the end of the year, but this is not a normal HHS," Chevat said, blaming Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the turmoil.
The Health and Human Services Department did not respond to a request seeking comment.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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