U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján said the cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services are illegal and will get rid of critical programs to keep Americans safe.
“Amid a nationwide measles outbreak, with bird flu spreading worldwide, and as a significant number of Americans face a substance use or mental health conditions, now is not the time to fire our nation’s health workers, ravage our nation’s top health agency, and cut critical resources that support state health services,” Luján said.
The Democratic Senator issued the statement in response to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to fire thousands of employees including those tasked with addressing pandemics. Media reports say the plans to cut 10,000 employees doesn’t include the about 10,000 employees who voluntarily left in recent months.
Luján noted that in addition to the job cuts, HHS canceled billions in federal grants for state health services.
“As the New Mexico Department of Health combats a measles outbreak and fights the opioid crisis, these federal funds – which Congress approved – are meant to help them track infectious diseases, get New Mexicans the substance use support services they need, and boost our state’s public health,” he said.
As of Tuesday, there have been 43 confirmed cases of measles in New Mexico. Measles is a highly infectious disease that was eradicated in the United States due to high rates of vaccination. Recent outbreaks have grown largely among the unvaccinated population in Texas and southeastern New Mexico, with other reported cases in more than a dozen states, from Alaska to Florida.
One unvaccinated person in New Mexico died with measles earlier this year, the first measles death in New Mexico in more than 40 years. Another unvaccinated person, a school-aged child, died in Texas earlier this year.
Luján sits on the Senate Budget Committee.
“The Trump administration is blindly taking an axe to the agency responsible for our nation’s public health,” Luján said.
Again, Ben Ray is unaware, of the benefits to us who pay taxes so that Democrats can line their pockets. Just like the $300+ he received from Parma.
Lining their pockets? Laughing. No other president has used the office to grift so blatantly as your orange shitgibbon. And wait, he has more in store for you.
When
When the economy tanks, unemployment soars and recession sets in
When Social Security and Medicare are reduced and then ended
When food prices double and then triple
When rural health clinics and hospitals close
When their children and grandchildren lose Medicaid
When polio, measles, whooping cough, tuberculosis and other preventable diseases strike their families
When there are no more childcare subsidies
When there is no such thing as ‘special education’ services
When farmers lose their subsidies
When senior programs end
When our old allies no longer keep us informed
When police and fire departments stop responding
When birth control is no longer available
Then a howl will go up to
the heavens like we have
never heard before –
MAGA will own this forever.