The House Education and Workforce Committee has advanced legislation along party lines to codify OSHA’s longstanding Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP), with Republicans touting the bill’s ability to save OSHA resources and taxpayer dollars but Democrats arguing the bill will do little to actually protect workers.
House appropriators are outlining their priorities for funding to address workplace safety and health issues, highlighting concerns about drug overdoses, mining issues, firefighting-related cancer and health issues for vehicle mechanics, with many of their recommendations focused on the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
The full House Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal year 2026 spending bill that slashes the budgets for OSHA, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), though it is not clear if the cuts will survive upcoming budget negotiations.
A House appropriations panel has advanced a fiscal year 2026 spending bill that includes the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), although it contains a smaller-than-requested reduction to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking to dismiss litigation brought by labor unions and Democratic states that aims to halt massive staffing cuts at a federal worker-safety agency, arguing the plaintiffs lack standing and the courts lack jurisdiction to hear the claims.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal year 2026 funding bill that maintains level funding for OSHA and other federal worker-protection agencies, rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to slash funding for the agencies and drawing praise from occupational safety advocates.
The chairman and several other Republican members of the House Education and Workforce Committee are urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to relax the Biden-era silica dust rule in order “to prevent serious economic hardship.”
Republicans on a House appropriations panel have advanced to the full committee a funding bill for EPA and related agencies that funds the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) despite the Trump administration’s proposal to zero it out.
House and Senate Democrats have introduced legislation seeking to force OSHA to issue a federal heat injury and illness standard and to explicitly authorize the agency to update the standard as technology improves or heat-related hazards worsen.
Republican House lawmakers used a July 16 hearing to tout OSHA’s long-standing Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) and highlight renewed efforts to codify VPP, while Democrats emphasized the need for continued enforcement of mandatory rules and decried the Trump administration’s deregulatory focus.