Democratic Lawmakers Urge Osha to Drop Plan to Scale Back Respirator Rules

A group of Democratic lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ilhan Omar is urging the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) to abandon a proposal that would loosen respirator mask regulations. In a letter, they argue the change would weaken protections for workers who handle dangerous materials.

The letter was addressed to Osha assistant secretary David Keeling, a former UPS and Amazon executive. It says the proposed rules would reduce what employers must do to supply respirators to workers exposed to substances such as "lead, asbestos, formaldehyde and inorganic arsenic, among other chemicals."

The lawmakers also pointed out that the agency is seeking to end a requirement that employers provide medical evaluations to workers who use certain types of respirators on the job.

According to the letter, the proposals show that the Department of Labor, which oversees Osha, "is endangering workers and prioritizing the interests of unscrupulous employers over Americans who work hard to provide for their families."

The signatories cited the human toll of workplace respiratory illness. More than 5,000 Americans die each year from occupation-related respiratory diseases, and in recent years rates of silicosis and coal workers' pneumoconiosis have climbed. The increases have been tied to artificial stone used in countertops and to greater silica exposure in coal seams.

The letter also raised concerns about process. The lawmakers said Osha issued the proposal in July 2025 without providing required evidence or requesting information needed to put the rules in place. They further criticized the agency for holding a procedural hearing in August, during a congressional recess, when no lawmakers were in Washington to discuss the rules. "Most Osha standards take years to move through the same steps these respirator rules have [moved through] in a matter of months," they wrote.

Other signers included Senators Chris Van Hollen and Cory Booker, and Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib and Jasmine Crockett, along with more than 20 other congressional Democrats.

Opposition to the plan extends beyond Congress. Unions and medical and industry experts, among them the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, the American Industrial Hygiene Association, National Nurses United and North America's Building Trades Unions, have cautioned Osha against pulling back its standards. The Associated General Contractors of America, a construction trade group, said in a comment that "quality safety regulations save contractors money in the long run and any deregulatory benefits associated with the proposed rule will be outweighed by potential liability down the line."

The lawmakers described the respirator proposal as one piece of a broader deregulatory push at Osha under the Trump administration, which proposed more than 60 deregulatory rule changes in the Department of Labor last year. Republicans have also proposed cutting Osha's budget by more than 8% for fiscal year 2027. In 2025, Osha inspections fell by 20%, and the agency lost 223 full-time employees to buyouts and early retirements during efforts to shrink the federal workforce in Trump's second term.

Osha did not immediately respond to a request for comment.