New York Dem Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on Sunday blasted what they called a “cruel” effort by President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to dismantle the World Trade Center Health Program.
The pols said at a press conference that 16 more doctors and staff tied to the program were abruptly fired Friday night.
Schumer, the Senate’s minority leader, said the late-night firings of WTCHP nurses, scientists and administrative officials exposed the Trump administration’s intent to gut the program, which provides medical treatment and research for more than 137,000 responders and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Donald Trump and [his Health and Human Services Secretary] RFK revealed their true intentions Friday night when they fired another 16 [workers]. … They seem to do these things late at night on weekends so nobody would know,” Schumer said, standing beside Gillibrand and 9/11 advocates.
“This political chaos is jeopardizing the healthcare of heroes,” he said.
Schumer said he spoke to two long-time WTCHP staffers — a doctor and an intake worker — who were booted in the latest round of recent program cuts.
“They did so much to help those who rushed to the Towers, and on Friday night, when they got home, they were told they were fired,” Schumer said.
The WTCHP, created in 2005, is now floundering because of staff cuts, leading to delayed cancer treatments for survivors, Schumer said.
“People who are in the middle of being treated for serious cancers are not getting the treatment anymore,” he told reporters.
Mariama James, 53, and her three children belong to the WTCHP program. She has already lost both of her parents to 9/11-related cancer.
“We are being lied to constantly,” she said about Trump’s and RFK Jr.’s response to the program.
“My 23-year-old has worn a heart monitor for the past two weeks. I don’t have time for people to lie to me anymore,” James said.
She said 800 survivors and first responders could not get certified to join the program in April because of the issues.
Gillibrand echoed the outrage, saying bipartisan work had gone into building the program based on scientific evidence that linked 9/11 survivors to cancer and lung conditions.
“This is not a political issue. It’s about keeping people alive,” she said.
The lawmakers vowed not to vote for any federal budget that wouldn’t fully fund the program.
Schumer accused New York House Republicans of allowing themselves to be “played and lied to” by promises that the program’s funding would be restored and demanded they use their leverage in upcoming budget negotiations to force the Trump administration to reverse course.
“They’ve got to up the ante,” he said. “Do not vote for a budget that doesn’t restore this program.”
