Under pressure, HHS reinstates hundreds of occupational health workers

[Dulcinea]

(NPR) After facing considerable pushback from labor organizations and congressional lawmakers, the Trump administration has reversed course on some of its planned layoffs at the federal health agency responsible for overseeing workplace safety.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, was slated to lose at least 900 workers, which represents more than 90% of the entire agency workforce.

But a federal lawsuit brought by a coal miner and a push among some members of Congress — including Republicans from West Virginia — appear to have prompted the Department of Health and Human Services to reinstate some critical programs.

Altogether 328 employees at NIOSH were reinstated, according to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr., who was questioned about the layoffs during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5398092/niosh-reinstates-occupational-health-workers