Elfreth Honors Maryland Firefighters, Calls Out DOGE Cuts to NIOSH

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth (MD-03) honored Maryland firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty. Among these first responders are Mark Falkenhan, a Baltimore County Volunteer Firefighter and Secret Service Agent, Nathan Flynn, a Howard County Firefighter, and Captain Josh Laird from Frederick County. Elfreth spoke today in support of the three of the five investigators at the Firefighter Fatality Investigation Program who were fired by DOGE and the Trump Administration. DOGE has also entirely eliminated staff at the National Cancer Firefighter Registry, which used to track cancer cases and deaths among firefighters.

“We owe it to firefighters across this country who sacrifice so much to keep our families safe. At the very least, we can be there for them when they are exposed to cancer or lose family members in line of duty deaths. These jobs are difficult and inherently dangerous, but they don’t need to be deadly,” said Congresswoman Elfreth. “These actions by the Administration are cruel and unsafe. This is not what the American people wanted. This is not what they voted for. Lost in this desperate mission to cut costs – at all costs – we have forgotten the greater public good. The public good that government must maintain and deliver for our constituents, our obligation to one another, and most importantly our obligation to those who run into burning buildings who keep our communities safe. The Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Program and the National Cancer Firefighter Registry are the federal government at its best. These civil servants who serve our first responders should not just be reinstated, frankly, their officers should be doubled.”

Elfreth has also spoken out against the Trump Administration’s executive orders aimed at making cuts to the federal workforce, including agencies housed in Maryland like the SSA and the NSA. She has introduced the first bipartisan anti-DOGE legislation in Congress, aimed at protecting the work of fired probationary employees. She has also called on President Trump and Secretary of Health Robert Kennedy Jr. to reverse National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health terminations. 

CLICK HERE or the image below to view Elfreth’s full remarks.

Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth

Remarks as Delivered

Floor Speech on Behalf of Fallen Maryland Firefighters and cuts to NIOSH

April 7th, 2025

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I rise today on behalf of Mark Falkenhan, a Baltimore County Volunteer Firefighter and Secret Service Agent, who perished on the third floor of an apartment building in 2011.

I rise on behalf of Nathan Flynn, a Howard County Firefighter who tragically died in the basement of a large house fire in 2018.

I rise on behalf of Frederick County Firefighter Captain Josh Lair, who we lost in 2022 when he too fell through a floor and into a basement fire.  

After each of these tragedies, and tragedies just like them across this country, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, produced a report examining what went wrong, and, crucially, how to prevent these tragedies moving forward. Those reports went on to save untold lives.

In Mark’s case, the NIOSH report spurred a new emphasis on identifying and communicating the presence of a basement upon first arrival.

In Nathan’s case, the NIOSH report exposed how outdated practices in building ventilation and fire flow management were killing firefighters across the country, ushering in nationwide changes in fire ground operations.

And again, in Josh’s case, the NIOSH report was instructive in identifying and operating over a basement fire.

Maryland's Fire community, like so many in our country, are small and well connected.

Each fatality is felt widely and personally.  

Following a tragedy, it can be difficult, without the proper technical resources, to make accurate and objective recommendations and changes - which is why the NIOSH investigations and reports are so crucial.

These NIOSH reports are critical for firefighting communities in Maryland and around our country - because they save lives. 

When released, the crew gathers around the kitchen table and read the reports together. 

In Maryland, firefighters have told me that in those moments and for the first time, they are able to walk through the incident guided by photographs, construction drawings, timetables, graphs, and supporting scientific evidence – and that recommendations from the reports can be revolutionary to how they fight fires and save lives.  

NIOSH produces these reports through their Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Program, which was already significantly understaffed with only 5 investigators investigating these instances across the nation. 

At this staffing level, it would take 4 years to thoroughly research and release a report after a line of duty death.

But that was until two months ago. 

Under the banner of government efficiency and the claim to reduce waste, DOGE has fired 3 of the 5 investigators, which means longer wait times for our first responders who deserve answers as to how their brothers and sisters died in the line of duty – and, critically, what changes need to be made to prevent such a death moving forward.

Another victim of the reckless work of DOGE was the National Cancer Firefighter Registry, which tracked cancer cases and deaths of firefighters. 

Cancer is now the leading cause of death for firefighters, and this database was critical to tracking health and safety improvements for firefighters and improving working conditions.

But in another sweeping effort to cut costs, DOGE eliminated the entire office. Now, this cancer registry is no longer maintained or updated.

So when the President talks about DOGE and government efficiency, I’m thinking of the firefighters whose lives he is putting in harm's way.

We owe it to firefighters across this country, who sacrifice so much to keep our families safe, and – at the very least – we can be there for them when they are exposed to cancer or lose family members in line of duty deaths.

These jobs are difficult and inherently dangerous, but they don’t need to be deadly.

These actions by the Administration are cruel and unsafe. This is not what the American people wanted. This is not what they voted for.

Lost in this desperate mission to cut costs – at all costs – we have forgotten the greater public good. 

The public good that government must maintain and deliver for our constituents, our obligation to one another, and most importantly our obligation to those who run into burning buildings who keep our communities safe. 

The Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Program and the National Cancer Firefighter Registry are the federal government at its best. These civil servants who serve our first responders should not just be reinstated, frankly, their officers should be doubled.

Perhaps these positions were eliminated in oversight. Perhaps these hard-working, passionate civil servants were merely line items on a budget to some cost-cutter who didn’t know any better.

That is why I rise today: to give a voice to these cuts, to put faces to these draconian measures, to plead with my colleagues across the aisle and with the President himself to do what is right. 

Restore these offices. Reinstate these civil servants, protect and serve those who protect and serve us. 

And with that, I yield back.

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