Baumgartner Leads Bicameral Push to Keep Spokane NIOSH Research Facility Open
WASHINGTON- Congressman Michael Baumgartner (WA-5) led a bicameral oversight letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging the Trump administration to preserve the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Spokane Research Laboratory (NIOSH SRL). The letter, sent on June 18, 2025, marks the third oversight effort Congressman Baumgartner has led to protect critical federal research infrastructure in the West.
The letter was co-signed by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Jim Risch (R-ID), along with Representatives Cliff Bentz (OR-2), Dan Newhouse (WA-4), and Mike Simpson (ID-2), demonstrating strong regional support for maintaining the lab’s mission in support of western workers and industries.
“NIOSH’s Spokane lab is the backbone of innovation and safety in the hardrock mining industry for the Western United States,” said Congressman Baumgartner. “Shutting it down, without a plan to reassign its vital research, would be a mistake and a disservice to the Trump administration’s America First energy and mineral strategy.”
The lawmakers raised concerns over reports that the NIOSH SRL facility is facing closure, with no reassignment of its research responsibilities to other federal agencies. The letter emphasizes the lab’s essential role in supporting metal and non-metal mining operations—industries critical to the economies of the western United States and to our national security.
They also note that while staff have reportedly been reassigned to facilities in the eastern U.S., particularly West Virginia, no such plans were made for the Spokane lab.
Mining industry leaders have echoed these concerns, underscoring the SRL’s reputation as a trusted and independent source of research and safety innovation in a sector that cannot afford to cut corners.
“The SRL is one of the lowest-cost laboratories NIOSH operates,” the letter states.
“We fully support President Trump’s efforts to streamline government and eliminate waste,” said Baumgartner. “But eliminating a low-cost, high-impact lab like this one goes against that goal.”
You can read the full letter here.