<img width="1014" height="1024" src="https://eastmountains.nm.news/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/Lujan_Headshot-1014×1024-1.jpg" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan" decoding="async" srcset="https://eastmountains.nm.news/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/Lujan_Headshot-1014×1024-1.jpg 1014w, https://nmpoliticalreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lujan_Headshot-297×300.jpg 297w, https://nmpoliticalreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lujan_Headshot-150×150.jpg?crop=1 150w, https://nmpoliticalreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lujan_Headshot-768×776.jpg 768w, https://nmpoliticalreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lujan_Headshot-400×404.jpg 400w, https://nmpoliticalreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lujan_Headshot.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw – 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="1657477" data-permalink="https://nmpoliticalreport.com/lujan_headshot/" data-orig-file="https://nmpoliticalreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lujan_Headshot.jpg" data-orig-size="1024,1034" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Lujan_Headshot" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="

Ben Ray Luján

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U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján said the cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services are illegal and will get rid of critical programs to keep Americans safe.

“Amid a nationwide measles outbreak, with bird flu spreading worldwide, and as a significant number of Americans face a substance use or mental health conditions, now is not the time to fire our nation’s health workers, ravage our nation’s top health agency, and cut critical resources that support state health services,” Luján said.

The Democratic Senator issued the statement in response to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to fire thousands of employees including those tasked with addressing pandemics. Media reports say the plans to cut 10,000 employees doesn’t include the about 10,000 employees who voluntarily left in recent months.

Luján noted that in addition to the job cuts, HHS canceled billions in federal grants for state health services.

“As the New Mexico Department of Health combats a measles outbreak and fights the opioid crisis, these federal funds – which Congress approved – are meant to help them track infectious diseases, get New Mexicans the substance use support services they need, and boost our state’s public health,” he said.

As of Tuesday, there have been 43 confirmed cases of measles in New Mexico. Measles is a highly infectious disease that was eradicated in the United States due to high rates of vaccination. Recent outbreaks have grown largely among the unvaccinated population in Texas and southeastern New Mexico, with other reported cases in more than a dozen states, from Alaska to Florida.

One unvaccinated person in New Mexico died with measles earlier this year, the first measles death in New Mexico in more than 40 years. Another unvaccinated person, a school-aged child, died in Texas earlier this year.

Luján sits on the Senate Budget Committee.

“The Trump administration is blindly taking an axe to the agency responsible for our nation’s public health,” Luján said.

The post Luján slams Trump administration over HHS cuts appeared first on New Mexico Political Report.