Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., expressed concern about recently fired federal workers in Morgantown.

Capito, in a statement released Tuesday, said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) facility in Morgantown play an important role in monitoring the health of coal miners in the state.

“While I believe in the broad vision set forth by the Trump administration to right size our government, I’m concerned that today’s cuts at CDC/NIOSH could impact vital health programs that are important to many West Virginians, especially our coal miners,” the senator said.

“During my meetings with Secretary Kennedy prior to his confirmation and as recently as last week, we discussed how important the health of coal workers is to West Virginia.

“Any cuts that impact their health monitoring need to be restored immediately. I am working with the Department of Health and Human Services to understand the depth of these cuts, both to programs and the workforce in Morgantown,” Capito said.

The NIOSH cuts impact “hundreds of workers who are engaged in research and the improvement of products and practices that literally save the lives of coal miners every day,” according to a statement from United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil Roberts.

“The announced significant downsizing of offices in Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh, Pa., are particularly devastating to the coal industry, which relies on the research done there to improve its safety practices,” he said.

“I do not think that these actions are being done in a coordinated way to hurt the American coal industry and those who work in it. But that is the effect. Miners have and can continue to produce the materials to power American homes, produce American steel and so many other products our society uses every day. They deserve answers from the administration as to why it appears there is now a target on their backs,” Roberts said.

The Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., began laying off thousands of workers Monday evening, according to reporting from Politico.

The reduction-of-force effort at HHS agencies — including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Food and Drug Administration — is expected to reduce HHS’s overall workforce by around 25%.