Memorial Day marks the start of the swimming season. But this year, layoffs at HHS mean the federal team that works on water safety and drowning data analysis is gone.
The Trump administration gutted dozens of congressionally mandated programs — including ones that screened coal miners for black lung and tracked cancer rates in firefighters — and knew they would face legal risks doing so.
NEW: We got our hands on a DOGE memo listing which CDC programs are required by law and warning of a "litigation risk" to cutting them. Dozens of those programs, tracking everything from IVF to cancer, have since been halted by layoffs. www.politico.com/news/2025/05...@sophiegardner.bsky.social
The White House called our last story on cuts to firefighter health/safety programs a "hoax." A few hours later, HHS, a Republican senator and a national firefighters union confirmed today that they're reversing some of those very cuts...but only until June 2.
A cancer registry, projects to protect firefighters from inhaling diesel fumes while they eat and sleep, screenings for survivors of 9/11 — all wiped out by RFK Jr.
It's a "gut punch" for a sector that overwhelmingly supported Trump.
