Federal scientists and engineers working to prevent deadly disasters and the spread of disease in miners could soon lose their jobs, even as President Donald Trump moves to supercharge U.S. production of coal and critical minerals.
More than 570 workers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, are waiting to see if their jobs will remain cut after they were dismissed earlier this year, including about 170 staffers conducting screenings and research to keep mine workers safe.
NIOSH’s mine safety research divisions in Spokane, Washington, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are housed within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and tasked with preventing injury, illness and death in the workplace.
The exodus threatens to undermine the government’s ability to prevent explosions, mine collapses and black lung diseases, said one agency staffer who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
“The next mine disaster that happens, the [public] is going to look to Congress and say, ‘Why wasn’t this prevented?’ and we’re the only group that does that sort of work,” said the staffer.
The fate of those workers could hinge on a legal fight playing out in a district court in Rhode Island, where more than a dozen states are suing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his plan to dramatically downsize his agency.
A federal judge in the Rhode Island case granted — and later narrowed — a preliminary injunction earlier this year that halted the terminations, while attorneys with the Department of Justice have urged the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Kennedy has moved to lay off thousands of employees across the Department of Health and Human Services through a reduction in force that’s hit workers across the agency’s footprint, from the Food and Drug Administration to the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. In April, about 900 of NIOSH’s 1,300 workers were told they’d be cut.
The plan to gut NIOSH has faced pushback on Capitol Hill, among industry groups and in court, with top Republicans from coal-heavy states like West Virginia coming to the agency’s defense.
That pressure has partially paid off. Following a lawsuit brought by a coal miner, Kennedy during a House budget hearing in May confirmed that 328 workers at NIOSH — including those screening coal miners for black lung diseases in West Virginia — had been reinstated.
But the 170 remaining NIOSH staffers who also work on miner safety in Pennsylvania and Washington state remain vulnerable, said Brendan Demich, vice president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1916 representing NIOSH worker at both locations.
Some people who are deemed critical have been back on the job at NIOSH even after they were told they would be terminated, said the agency staffer. Yet even those workers are limited in what they can do amid travel and spending restrictions, they said, while others have left to take better-paying jobs in the private sector.
When asked about the lawsuit and staff cuts, Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for HHS, maintained that critical services are being preserved. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the nation’s critical public health functions remain intact and effective,” Hilliard said. “The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services like those that support coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH.”
But Demich said miner health and safety are indeed being gutted and that unless Kennedy reverses course, the secretary will oversee the demise of a 115-year legacy of protecting miners from explosions, fires, cave-ins and chronic diseases, like black lung.
“Mining families, like my own, will see their loved ones suffer from preventable mining incidents and illnesses,” he said. “We hope this administration recognizes that the Mining Program is an efficient and effective use of taxpayer funds and reinstates this unique program.”
Contradictions
The pending termination of federal workers dedicated to miner safety comes as Trump frequently touts the importance of expanding mining.
The president and his top officials have moved to expand mining operations across the nation by clawing back regulations, fast-tracking reviews and supercharging funding to bolster domestic mining of coal, copper, uranium and critical minerals.
The White House has also proposed to maintain funding for mining safety programs even as staff have been told they will be cut.
The Trump administration is seeking to slash NIOSH’s budget down to $73 million for fiscal 2026, down from current spending levels of $362.8 million. But the administration would maintain funding for mining safety research activities at $67 million, which is consistent with prior years, said Demich with the union.
Senate and House appropriations bills moving through Congress likewise call for level funding in that area, he added.
When asked about staff and funding cuts at NIOSH on Capitol Hill, Kennedy has signaled support. “If Congress funds it, I’ll keep the program open,” Kennedy told Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing in June.
The mixed messages are sewing confusion at NIOSH, said the staffer. “It’s like you’re going to fully fund us, but you’re also firing everyone,” they said.
The federal government began researching mine safety in 1910 with the creation of the Bureau of Mines following a series of deadly explosions and accidents in U.S. coal mines.
Just three years prior, 350 miners died at a West Virginia mine from an explosion that triggered a mine collapse.
The bureau was shuttered in 1996 and much of its work halted, but federally mandated research on mine safety was shifted to places like Pittsburgh.
Today, NIOSH staffers there are working to eliminate mining fatalities, injuries and illnesses tied to silica dust, a known carcinogen.
The staffer said those workers include “incredibly highly specialized engineers and scientists” who conduct life-saving research, including research groups in Spokane and Pittsburgh that are developing personal monitors for workers to gather real-time data on what types and levels of dust they’re being exposed to.
“They do research that can’t be done elsewhere or won’t be done elsewhere, because it’s either not feasible or not financially viable for a company to do this type of work,” said the staffer.
