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5d ago

HHS Reinstates Over 100 NIOSH Workers After Judge Orders Black Lung Program Restoration

A federal injunction mandates uninterrupted coal miner health services while uncertainty persists for other agency staff.

A miner diagnosed with advanced black lung diease, stands inside an old water well near his home in Hinton, West Virginia, U.S., April 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo
People rally on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in support of some 185 researchers and other employees of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Morgantown, W.Va., who received reduction-in-force notices as part of a larger push by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to dismiss 10,000 federal employees. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Coal on barges on the Monongahela River in Clairton, Penn., on Sept. 9, 2024.
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Overview

  • Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reversed the layoffs of over 100 NIOSH employees, permanently reinstating staff in critical divisions such as respiratory health and personal protective technology.
  • U.S. District Judge Irene Berger issued a preliminary injunction requiring the restoration of NIOSH's respiratory health division and uninterrupted operation of federally mandated black lung health programs.
  • The Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program and Part 90 job transfer option, essential for protecting miners diagnosed with black lung, were ordered to continue without interruption.
  • While key NIOSH teams are resuming operations, many employees across the agency and CDC remain without formal rescission notices and face job uncertainty.
  • The layoffs, part of a broader Trump-era restructuring effort, had halted vital programs like respirator approvals and workplace health risk evaluations, which are now beginning to restart.