World Trade Center Health Program will start hiring, federal officials tell lawmakers

WASHINGTON — The World Trade Center Health Program, grappling with staffing shortages, is expected to start hiring to fill job vacancies, New York House Republicans were told Thursday by federal health officials.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provided a closed-door briefing to the lawmakers after Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) issued a letter earlier this month, co-signed by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and others from the state delegation, raising questions around the increase in new 9/11 responders and survivors seeking entry into the program as it deals with a shortage in personnel.

The program serves about 140,000 people dealing with a variety of cancers and diseases tied to their exposure to the Sept. 11, 2001, attack sites. Lawmakers and advocates have noted that the program is authorized by the Office of Management and Budget to employ 120 workers but now has only 83 workers on staff, down from 93 that were employed when the Trump administration entered office in January 2025.

LaLota, in an emailed statement after the meeting, said more hirings appear to be on the horizon.

“Today’s conversation leaves me cautiously optimistic that the program is moving in the right direction, particularly by hiring to fill critical vacancies, to ensure that our 9/11 heroes and survivors receive the care they rightfully deserve,” LaLota said.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday about the number of hirings expected.

New York House Democrats and Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand also have requested briefings from the department about the staffing shortages.

Thursday’s briefing occurred just as a group of 9/11 advocates and firefighter union leaders visited the U.S. Capitol campus to meet with lawmakers and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to give their thanks for passage of a bill in January that ensured the program would remain fully funded as it faced a potential financial shortfall.

The visit from the first responders and advocates had been planned long before the HHS briefing was scheduled, but in their meetings with Johnson the group underscored the needs still facing the 9/11 community, said Ben Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, who was among the advocates on hand.

"Knowing the program is fully funded provides relief to a community already battling so much," Chevat told Newsday in a phone interview.

The group of advocates and union officials presented Johnson with a framed bumper sticker that reads “Tell Congress: ‘Remember 9/11’ should be more than just a bumper sticker.”

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

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.