HHS Publishes “Justification” for 80% NIOSH Cuts

• A budget justification published Monday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, titled “Administration for a Healthy America”,  shows the agency is seeking to allocate $73.2 million to NIOSH in FY 2026, which begins Oct. 1.
• NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, which is responsible for approving respirators, is one of the divisions that will receive no funding.
• The others getting no money include the National Occupational Research Agenda, “education and research centers,” and “other occupational safety and health research.”
• The document is published as a “Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees” of Congress.
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Federal Labor Investigator Ranks Sink to 52-Year Low

• The number of federal investigators responsible for enforcing federal labor laws has shrunk to an all-time low, according to researchers from Rutgers University and Northwestern University.
• In particular, the U.S. Wage and Hour Division had 611 investigators in May, down from a peak of 1,232 investigators in 1978.
• Media reports claim that in April that over 2,700 employees of the U.S. Department of Labor had agreed to leave the agency through deferred resignations.
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