May 17, 2025 - Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., said he’s sure the Trump administration won’t abandon the nation’s coal miners.

Although Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services, helmed by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has already made cuts to programs vital to the health and safety of miners, Justice said President Donald Trump is counting on miners to play a key role in his energy agenda.

“Do you honestly think President Trump, who loves our coal miners — he couldn’t love them more than me, but he loves our coal miners — do you really think he’s going to endanger the health and safety of the very people that he needs more than anything to solve this energy dilemma?” Justice asked during an interview with WV News on Thursday. “He’s not going to do that.”

Around 200 employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health facility in Morgantown were informed at the beginning of April they would be laid off as part of Kennedy’s efforts to reshape and overhaul HHS to align with his Make America Health agenda.

During a House budget hearing Wednesday, Kennedy confirmed more than 100 of the previously laid-off workers would be permanently restored to their positions. Kennedy also said health programs for miners, including the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, would “continue to function with continuity.”

Justice urged patience and pledged to fight for the restoration of the other NIOSH positions.

“We don’t want to forget the other 100 folks, do we?” he said. “I’ll promise you that Shelley (Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.) and I are pushing and pushing as hard as we possibly can, and we’ve done that from the get-go.”

Justice, who voted in favor of Kennedy’s confirmation, expressed confidence in Kennedy’s leadership but said some early bumps in the road are to be expected.

“At times they’re going to mow, maybe, up too close to the fence. Maybe they’re going to mow across the fence, and then they’re going to have to adjust,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’ve seen right here.”

In April, President Trump signed a series of executive orders to: Reinvigorate the “Beautiful Clean Coal Industry;” prevent regulatory overreach by state governments; and strengthen the reliability of the national electric grid.

West Virginia is the second-largest coal producer in the nation, after Wyoming, and accounts for 15% of U.S. total coal production, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

West Virginia’s coal mining industry employed 69,303 workers as of May 6, according to the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. There were 9,094 underground miners; 1,843 surface miners; 534 quarry workers; 2,799 prep plant employees; and 55,033 independent contractors.