The Trump administration will reverse the layoffs it ordered at the 9/11 healthcare program for people sickened by toxic smoke and debris from the World Trade Center's collapse, Spectrum News NY1 has learned.

The about-face Friday follows a bipartisan outcry from New York elected officials and 9/11 community advocates. They warned the staffing reductions at the World Trade Center Health Program could undermine care for those harmed by the terrorist attack and its aftermath.

The cuts, part of the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to slash the federal government, amounted to a 20 percent staffing reduction, the advocates said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that probationary workers “will return to work to ensure that those people affected by the September 11th attacks in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania continue to receive critical, high-quality and compassionate medical monitoring and treatment of WTC-related health conditions.”

One of those fired was Anthony Gardner, who received a termination notice last weekend. He confirmed he had been advised Friday afternoon that his termination had been rescinded and that he is clear to return to the office next week.

Gardner’s older brother, Harvey, died on 9/11 at age 35. He was working in the North Tower.

In the years since, Anthony said he sought to make Harvey “proud,” first by working for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and the Victim Compensation Fund, and most recently for the World Trade Center Health Program. 

In a statement to Spectrum News NY1, Gardner said thanked the president for rescinding the staffing cuts and said, “My colleagues and I are eager to get back to work on Monday for our 9/11 heroes who we are so honored to serve.”

In addition to pledging to restore staff, the Trump administration has also reinstated a grant that helps FDNY research disease rates, which had reportedly been canceled as part of the administration's budget-slashing initiative, known as DOGE.

In a statement earlier this week, Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker warned that cutting the grant money would “limit” the department’s “ability to prove that new conditions are WTC related, and should be added to the list of covered conditions. This will hinder our efforts to provide treatment coverage for new conditions, which is a tragedy for all Americans who swore they would never forget.”

In a statement, Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, which advocates for the 9/11 community, wrote, “We appreciate the swift action by President Trump, when he became aware of the impact that these cuts by DOGE would have had on health care of injured and ill 9/11 responders and survivors. We hope that we can also count on the President’s support in the effort to fix the long-term budget problems facing the program that will start in 2027.”

The cuts had put New York Congressional Republicans at odds with the Trump administration. In a letter to the president earlier this week, they urged him to rehire terminated staff and restore the canceled grants, requesting workforce cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services be done in a “targeted manner.”

In a social media post Friday, Long Island Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who led the letter to the president, called the reinstatement of the WTC Health Program staff a “huge victory for 9/11 first responders and survivors.”

In a separate statement, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the top-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate, wrote, “Today we saw what happens when New Yorkers fight back against disastrous job-killing decisions: Trump and Musk back off. When we say ‘Never Forget’ that means never wavering in our commitment to take care of those who answered the call on 9/11.”