Trump administration reverses planned closures of 3 dozen US mine safety offices
Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency, created by President Donald Trump and run by Elon Musk, had targeted federal agencies for spending cuts, including terminating leases for three dozen MSHA offices. Seven of those offices were in Kentucky alone. Ending the MSHA leases had been projected to save $18 million.
Musk said this week that he's leaving his job as a senior adviser.
A statement released by a Labor Department spokesperson Thursday said it has been working closely with the General Services Administration 'to ensure our MSHA inspectors have the resources they need to carry out their core mission to prevent death, illness, and injury from mining and promote safe and healthy workplaces for American miners.'
Some MSHA offices are still listed on the chopping block on the DOGE website, but the statement did not indicate whether those closings will move forward.
MSHA was created by Congress within the Labor Department in 1978, in part because state inspectors were seen as too close to the industry to force coal companies to take the sometimes costly steps necessary to protect miners. MSHA is required to inspect each underground mine quarterly and each surface mine twice a year.
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