"A federal program that screens coal miners for black lung disease has been shuttered because of layoffs and budget cuts."

"MADISON, W.Va. — Emory “Curly” Carter sometimes feels like he can’t breathe. Household chores, such as cleaning and gardening, leave him gasping for air, making him feel like he has a “real bad” case of pneumonia.

After nearly four decades working in underground coal mines, Carter was diagnosed with black lung, a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling coal dust over a long period. Now, the 70 year-old worries that the Trump administration’s steep cuts to health and safety programs will endanger the next generation of miners across the coalfields of West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.

At the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the division of the Health and Human Services Department that provides free black lung screenings for coal miners, Trump appointees fired roughly two-thirds of the staff this month. There are no employees left to run the screening program in the agency’s office in Morgantown, West Virginia."

Maxine Joselow and Ricky Carioti report for the Washington Post April 21, 2025. [2]