Neal Statement on Latest Trump Attack on the Health of the American People
Washington, D.C.,
April 1, 2025
Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA) blasted the Trump Administration for its latest attack on the health of the American people with illegal mass firings at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): “The Trump Administration is about to learn what efficiency really means. It’s the vaccines that keep our people healthy each winter, it's the child care that allows parents to go to work, it’s the many advances made possible through innovation and medical breakthroughs, it’s the HHS staff that hold contractors and grantees accountable, among so much more. With this move, Secretary Kennedy is making the people less healthy and putting our economy on the line all in the name of freeing up dollars for massive tax giveaways to the wealthy. Their cruelty can be measured in how they forced public servants to line up outside this morning to find out their fate, and in how they are targeting Regional Offices (ROs) in blue states, like the Boston Regional Office which is a hub for medical and scientific innovation. The people's health isn’t political, and closing offices will only jam up the other ROs, causing backlogs and headaches for all and putting vulnerable lives at risk. “If you believed their parroting about Medicaid and Medicare, believe them now. Trump is coming for these programs, and he’s doing it between the lines. Eliminating the people who run Medicaid and Medicare and making sure there’s no one left to process claims or work with states on accessing funding for child care, foster care, child support, and family assistance are all cuts to the American people. “Every justification they have for these illegal firings is a lie, but the consequences to American lives, our public health, and economic security will be indisputable, with the blame laying solely at their feet.” ### |