DOGE Slashes Health Care for Sick 9/11 First Responders
While Elon Musk was striking it rich as a guest in America, the rest of our worlds were crashing down. I was serving in my first year of Active Duty Military Service. While home on leave — a little longer than intended — I remember watching the first tower fall from my uncle’s home in Bayonne, N.J. The smoke rising from Lower Manhattan was visible across the water, an unthinkable sight that would change the course of history and my life forever.
While I watched in horror, John Feal was already in motion. A demolition supervisor, he did what so many first responders and volunteers did that day — he ran toward the devastation, determined to help. For days, along with his comrades, many of whom are dead from 9/11-related illnesses, he worked tirelessly on “the pile,” the smoldering wreckage of the Twin Towers, searching for survivors, clearing debris, and breathing in air thick with toxic dust that he was told was “safe.”
In 2008, fate brought John Feal and me together. I was working for a congressman, and John was hunting down lawmakers. My job was to intercept people like John — relentless advocates demanding action. But John wasn’t just any advocate. He told me about the horrific illnesses 9/11 first responders were suffering from and how the City of New York had abandoned them, offering no health care or support. I knew immediately this was something we needed to address. I introduced John to my boss, and from that moment on, he never stopped fighting.
For the next 11 years, John battled in Washington, refusing to let politicians ignore the suffering of those who had risked everything on 9/11. With the help of his friends — and the heartbreaking loss of too many others — he eventually forced Congress to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, and renew the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund later. Even when Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee blocked a unanimous-consent motion, John pushed forward, ensuring that responders got the care they deserved.
Now, Elon Musk thinks John Feal and his dying friends should go without the health care they need. Musk, along with President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have led a purge of federal workers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; those cuts at the CDC, which manages the 9/11 World Trade Center Health Program, have left the system unable to process claims or even function.
There’s no bottom to the depths of Trump and Musk’s indifference when it comes to the treatment of America’s heroes — veterans make up roughly a third of the federal workforce they are actively dismantling. But even for them, this is a new low.
The job cuts at CDC eliminated 20 percent of the federal workers responsible for certifying 9/11-related illnesses, preventing fraud, and ensuring research continues. That means thousands of firefighters, police officers, construction workers, and volunteers could see delays or denials in their care. For many, those delays could mean the difference between life and death, as John knows all too well.
Sound familiar? That’s because Musk, Trump, and DOGE keep pulling the same stunt with veterans — cutting their jobs, threatening vital services and saving taxpayers nothing. Their efforts at political gain come at the expense of sick 9/11 first responders and disabled veterans.
When Abraham Lincoln said, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan,” he likely never imagined a future where America would be run by billionaires — some of whom were never even elected. Yet here we are, with the richest men in the world telling the heroes who risked everything, watched their friends die from terrorism, disease, and war, that they refuse to care for them, their widows, or their children.
More from Rolling Stone
Best of Rolling Stone
Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.