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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today sent a letter to Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding answers about the recent staffing upheaval and treatment delays at the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), which provides medical care to more than 132,000 9/11 responders and survivors.

Pallone voiced concern that while the Trump administration has partially walked back some terminations, “the chaos you are inflicting upon the program is extremely troubling.”

The New Jersey Congressman wrote that despite the alleged reinstatement of some employees, “16 World Trade Center Health Program staff members were informed of their termination, effective by early summer,” disrupting critical operations including “enrollment, health condition certification, research oversight, and contract management.”

“These actions, coupled with the mass terminations of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health announced in February, severely disrupt mission critical operations for the World Trade Center Health Program,” Pallone continued in his letter to Kennedy. “These actions break our nation’s vow to the 9/11 first responder and survivor community to provide the injured and their families the aid they need and deserve.”

The letter also cites alarming real-world consequences, including testimony from Dr. David Prezant, chief medical officer for the New York City Fire Department and Director of its World Trade Center Health Program, who said a 9/11 responder with life-threatening pancreatic cancer was told he couldn’t start chemotherapy, while others with new cancer diagnoses were also denied care.

“There were potentially more than 1,200 condition certifications paused, including for cancer,” Pallone wrote.

Pallone called on Secretary Kennedy to “cease any additional actions to terminate staff, providers, or limit any WTCHP program operations,” and to provide “a comprehensive briefing on the recent actions you’ve taken regarding the World Trade Center Health Program and the specific actions you, as Secretary, will take to ensure the program remains fully equipped to deliver life-saving care.”

The World Trade Center Health Program provides essential treatment and monitoring to responders and survivors from Ground Zero, the Pentagon and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania, crash site. It provides care in all 50 states and nearly every congressional district.

The full letter can be found here and below:

Secretary Kennedy, 

I write to you today to strongly protest the latest staffing reductions for the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP).  The Department’s actions have caused chaos and confusion, leading directly to the denial of cancer treatments and the prevention of hundreds more from accessing medical treatment. 

Despite reporting of the alleged reinstatement of 15 employees of the originally terminated 16 employees, the chaos you are inflicting upon the program is extremely troubling.[1]  The most recent data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the WTCHP provides essential medical treatment, monitoring, and research to more than 132,000 first responders and survivors from the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and the Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site.  The program serves individuals in all 50 states and nearly every Congressional district.[2]  These actions, coupled with the mass terminations of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) announced in February, severely disrupt mission critical operations for the WTCHP.  These actions break our nation’s vow to the 9/11 first responder and survivor community to provide the injured and their families the aid they need and deserve.[3]

On May 2, 2025, 16 WTCHP staff members were informed of their termination, effective by early summer.[4]  These career civil servants perform vital functions, including enrollment, health condition certification, research oversight, and contract management for the WTCHP.  They were placed on administrative leave despite previous assurances from you that no such terminations would occur.[5]  Meanwhile, it is my understanding that until there was public outrage, Dr. John Howard’s role overseeing the program remained in limbo.  He was recently reinstated to his post, but only until June 2, 2025.  This is no way to run this critical health care program.

Your reckless decisions have devastating real-world consequences. Alarmingly, Dr. David Prezant, chief medical officer of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) and Director of its World Trade Center Health Program, stated that a 9/11 responder with life-threatening pancreatic cancer was told that he couldn’t start chemotherapy.[6]  There are also at least three FDNY employees who have been diagnosed with cancers believed to be related to their service at Ground Zero, who have not been able to get approval for care.[7]  There has even been reports of a full halt to enrollment of any new responders and survivors.^[8]  Furthermore, there were potentially more than 1,200 condition certifications that were paused, including for cancer, preventing patients from accessing medical treatment and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.[9]  This is a travesty. 

As a result of your chaos and confusion, the WTCHP will continue to remain severely understaffed and deeply destabilized.  By design, the program is meant to be science-driven, apolitical, and survivor-focused.  It is now being subjected to opaque internal decisions and political interference that put the health and safety of thousands of Americans in jeopardy.  To date, your department has not provided a clear or honest explanation.  The Department’s communications have denied basic facts already confirmed by internal documents and public reporting.[10]  The lack of transparency and accountability is unacceptable.

This is not a partisan issue. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, along with survivors, advocates, and 9/11 families, are united in their deep concern and outrage.  The World Trade Center Health Program must be preserved, fully staffed, and protected—not hollowed out under the Trump Administration’s false flag of ending waste.  

I demand you cease any additional actions to terminate staff, providers, or limit WTCHP program operations.  I demand transparency in the Department’s decision making on past and future administrative actions to this program.  As such, please  provide me and my staff with a comprehensive briefing no later than May 22 on the recent actions you have taken regarding the WTCHP and the specific actions you will take to ensure the program remains fully equipped to deliver life-saving care to current participants and future enrollees.

I look forward to your prompt response to this critical issue to our 9/11 heroes.

Sincerely,

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This week Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) led a group of his colleagues in calling on Speaker Mike Johnson to make his appointments to the bipartisan board of the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC), formerly known as the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). Democrats have submitted their appointees, but the work of the OCC remains stalled due to Johnson’s failure to appoint Republican members, despite at least two former GOP members of the board agreeing to return. 

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “This delay, which is now entering its fourth month of the 119th Congress, not only undermines the integrity of this body but threatens to erode the trust that the American people place in our capacity to hold ourselves accountable.”

They continued to highlight how Johnson’s delays are compounding repeated efforts to weaken the board, negatively impacting the ability of our institutions to hold elected officials to the highest possible ethical standards, writing, “This pattern of obstruction is not new. Since OCC’s inception, it has faced repeated attempts to weaken or dismantle it. For instance, the most recent rules package adopted at the start of the 119th Congress has made it even harder for the OCC to function by requiring the board to be fully seated before staff could be reappointed. These changes, layered atop the current delay, have made the situation exponentially more difficult.”

They closed by calling on Johnson to take immediate action: “To rectify this oversight, we urge you to move swiftly to appoint the Republican members of the OCC board when Congress returns for this work period.”

Read the full letter here. 

Yesterday in a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee markup, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Ranking Member of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, condemned House Republicans for moving forward legislation to legalize for-profit, predatory companies charging veterans exorbitant fees for assistance with their disability claims and urged them to instead support his bipartisan GUARD VA Benefits Act, which would reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited claim representatives who charge unauthorized fees while assisting veterans with filing a claim for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation benefits. Watch his remarks here.

During the markup, Congressman Pappas said, “I, and others on this Committee, along with most of the VSO community, have repeatedly raised alarm about the rise of unaccredited claims consultants profiting from veterans’ disability claims. While only VA-accredited representatives are legally allowed to assist with claims, the VA lost its ability to enforce that law nearly two decades ago. As a result, predatory companies now exploit this loophole – charging veterans thousands of dollars while raking in millions.”

He continued saying, “Now, instead of restoring VA’s authority to penalize illegal behavior, H.R. 3132 would legalize it, granting accreditation without safeguards and allowing companies to charge up to $12,500 just for helping a veteran file their claim… Ironically, the bill includes my own language to reinstate criminal penalties – but this is nothing but a smokescreen for bad actors to hide behind, because the bill also rewrites the law to exempt the very conduct that should remain illegal from being penalized. Rather than rewriting the law to suit the interests of those who are already breaking it, we should focus on protecting veterans and their hard-earned benefits.”

“It’s simple: put veterans first, not profits. The solution isn’t to legalize predatory practices – it’s to enforce the law and to hold violators accountable. If these companies truly believe they’re helping veterans, they should have nothing to fear from the GUARD Act or the VA’s accreditation process,” he concluded.

Background: 

Unaccredited claims representatives, or claim sharks, are not subject to VA standards. They strategically advertise their services to avoid regulatory oversight and as a result, may engage in predatory and unethical practices that target veterans and rob them of their VA benefits. Federal laws and regulations prohibit anyone from assisting a veteran in the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a VA benefit claim, or charging a fee for this assistance, without accreditation from VA. However, VA and other federal agencies are limited in their ability to enforce existing law because explicit criminal penalties were stripped from statute nearly two decades ago. This has contributed to the proliferation of unaccredited claims representatives in recent years, a troubling development especially as more veterans receive the benefits they’re owed thanks to the Honoring Our PACT Act.

Pappas’s Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act would reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited claim representatives who charge unauthorized fees while assisting veterans with filing a claim for VA disability compensation benefits. This legislation will discourage for-profit companies from operating outside the bounds of federal law, and will give VA and other agencies an additional tool to protect veteran claimants from predatory practices.

Pappas has been working to raise awareness of and protect veterans from the predatory practices of claims sharks since 2021, calling on VA to improve awareness, chairing an oversight hearing on the topic, and introducing the GUARD VA Act in both the 117th, 118th, and 119th Congresses.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Reps. Mike Levin (CA-49) and Jahana Hayes (CT-05) reintroduced H.R. 3217, the Stop Child Hunger Act, to provide families who have children eligible for free and reduced-price school meals with an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card to use when school is not in session. The EBT card could be used during summer or winter break, or when schools are operating remotely or are closed for a natural disaster. The bill was reintroduced alongside the Senate companion sponsored by Senator Patty Murray (WA).

Approximately 29.6 million students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals each day during the school year. School nutrition programs provide critical nourishment to students to support healthy living and improve cognitive function throughout the school day. A lapse in these benefits during vacations and school closures can have a drastic impact on low-income families. Rep. Levin led the effort to establish a permanent Summer EBT program that passed in the Fiscal Year 2023 omnibus government funding package in December 2022. This bill would expand on the Summer EBT program to cover all school breaks longer than five days and would increase the benefit amount families receive.

“While Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration gut food assistance programs, I’m doing everything I can to make sure kids are able to get the food they need to thrive,” said Rep. Levin. “This bill strengthens and expands existing nutritional programs to ensure that families and children have food year-round, including during school closures and holidays. As a parent, I know how important it is for kids to have access to nutritious food. We need to do everything we can to fight child hunger. I thank Rep. Hayes and Sen. Murray for their partnership on this bill, and I look forward to pushing it forward through the legislative process.”

“No kid in America should go hungry—it’s really that simple,” said Sen. Murray. “I’ve been fighting for more than a decade to ensure that kids who rely on free and reduced-price meals during the school year don’t lose access to nutritious meals when school is out, and we took a huge step forward when we passed the Summer EBT program into law—which helped feed nearly 600,000 kids in Washington state last summer. Our legislation would build on that progress and make sure that kids whose families are on the tightest budgets still have access to nutritious meals when school is closed for a week or more, including for winter and spring breaks. While the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are working overtime to rip away nutrition benefits from moms and kids, and cut programs families rely on to meet their basic needs, Democrats are fighting to make sure every child is fed and has the support they need to succeed.”

“For many students, school is the only place they consistently receive a hot meal. While Summer EBT was expanded in 2023, vital programs like SNAP are still under threat of cuts from Republicans in Congress,” said Rep. Hayes. “The Stop Child Hunger Act provides a crucial solution by making Summer EBT permanent and nationwide, giving eligible children year-round access to nutritious food with EBT benefits matching the value of school meals for school closures over five days. This is a vital step towards addressing child hunger and a necessary investment in public health and equity for our most vulnerable children.”

The Stop Child Hunger Act builds on the permanent Summer EBT program to establish a permanent nutrition program for children from low-income families for all school closures. Specifically, it would:

• Expand the new permanent Summer EBT program to all school closures longer than five consecutive days.
• Increase the value of the benefit to cover the cost of breakfast, lunch, and a snack for every day school is closed. The FY23 omnibus government funding package only authorized funding for $40 a month per child.
• Allow eligible households to use EBT cards for the purchase of food from retail food stores that have been approved for participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
• Provide grants to states to support the development of data systems or upgrades to existing data systems to carry out this program more effectively.

“Millions of children lose access to free and reduced-price meals when schools close,” said Crystal FitzSimons, Interim President of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). “The Stop Child Hunger Act builds on the Summer EBT program to help families keep food on the table during school breaks, increasing the benefit levels and covering state’ cost. FRAC urges Congress to pass this bill without delay. Hungry children can’t wait.” 

“With the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025, Senator Murray is acting on one of the most critical needs in Washington state right now, where families with children are often twice as likely to be food insecure. This bill builds on the success of the SUN Bucks EBT program in 2024, which delivered a one-time $120 benefit per year per eligible child, so nearly 600,000 families were able to buy groceries last summer. Senator Murray’s leadership on child hunger is unmatched with real solutions and real results for Washington families,” said Megan Blado Cooper, Interim CEO of Food Lifeline.

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