Bipartisan Congress Letter Urges Reappointment of Dr. John Howard to Lead WTC Health Program

A bipartisan, bicameral group of 26 members of Congress, led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urging him to reappoint Dr. John Howard to a further six-year term as Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Administrator of the WTC Health Program ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks. The letter credited Howard's more than two decades of service to the 9/11 responder and survivor community and noted that Congress had recently secured permanent funding for the program, which covers more than 140,000 enrollees. Howard's current six-year term as program administrator was set to expire in November 2026. The letter followed months of bipartisan pressure over WTC Health Program staffing shortages and DOGE-era cuts that Kennedy had earlier pledged to reverse.