Today's Episode of We Freakin' Warned You

How MAGA Politics Is Betraying 9/11 Heroes

Welcome to today’s episode of We Freakin' Warned You, where we take another look at what happens when Republicans put political games over people’s lives.

Today, we're focusing on the 9/11 first responders — the firefighters, police officers, and civilians who risked everything on one of the darkest days in American history.

These heroes are now being told there’s no money for the health care they desperately need.

This is not just a heartbreaking story. It’s infuriating. And, as liberals, we warned voters this would happen.

What Happened

Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito of Long Island had been working on a bipartisan bill to fully fund the World Trade Center Health Program through 2040.

This program, originally created in 2011 under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, provides life-saving care to over 130,000 first responders and survivors, with over 7,000 new enrollees just this year.

The measure was supposed to be a bipartisan victory — a rare moment of unity in Congress. But then it all fell apart.

D’Esposito himself said, “It’s not a partisan issue. This is an American issue.”

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, backed by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, stripped the funding from the spending bill to appease their concerns over “government waste” and the debt ceiling.

This decision came just days before a government shutdown deadline.

The GOP-led House abandoned a bipartisan plan to keep the government open after Musk demanded the bill fail on his social media platform, X, and Trump followed suit.

Johnson, desperate to avoid upsetting these MAGA power players, “essentially ripped up the deal,” according to reporting from the Seattle Times.

New! Paid Subscribers receive monthly Audio/Video Books.

The Fallout

On Wednesday, D’Esposito had been celebrating the bill’s inclusion in the spending plan, but by Thursday night, it was gone.

D’Esposito claimed he had no choice but to vote for the stripped-down spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, saying,

If there was [sic] projects and funding that was put into that bill and 9/11 was the only thing that was eliminated, I absolutely would have voted against.

It’s paramount that we keep the government open. I don’t think this nation can stand a government shutdown over the next few weeks.

Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman didn’t buy D’Esposito’s excuses. He said,

When he says he had no choice, that basically means that he has no power within his own party that controls the House to get anything done.”

Goldman also pointed out

It’s baffling to me that the excuse would be, ‘We can’t shut down the government,’ when it was part of the original deal that would have avoided a government shutdown.

The decision to withhold funding sparked outrage not just in Congress but also among the very first responders the bill was meant to protect.

The First Responders Speak Out

Standing outside a firehouse near the World Trade Center in freezing temperatures, firefighter unions expressed their anger at Congress for abandoning 9/11 heroes.

James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, said

The one thing we were able to fall back on was people wouldn’t forget and they would always stand beside us. Unfortunately twenty-some-odd-years later, people are starting to forget.

It is unimaginable that we would have to come down here and ask Congress to do the right thing.

Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, echoed the frustration.

He said,

Part of what was left on the table was the bill that would provide the health care and the compensation for the sick and dying New York City firefighters, police officers, and first responders and civilians that were affected by what happened down there.

Ansbro also criticized the MAGA slogan directly, saying,

The incoming politicians and those returning were given a mandate to make America great again. We know that you cannot make America great again if you leave behind those that are sick and those that are dying that answered the call on 9/11.

But, despite their anger, the first responders remain determined to fight.

Ansbro added, “We’re not here to point a finger at anyone for what happened that day. We’re here to let everyone know that we’re not going away.”

We Freakin' Warned You

This is where we say it: We freakin’ warned you.

We warned voters that putting Trump and his MAGA loyalists in power would lead to a Republican Party that prioritizes political stunts over real solutions.

We warned them that MAGA Republicans would rather gut bipartisan legislation than cross their corporate overlords or social media influencers like Elon Musk. And now, the proof is right in front of us.

The World Trade Center Health Program was designed to ensure that no first responder would ever be turned away from the care they need. Yet here we are, 23 years after 9/11, with firefighters, police officers, and civilians still begging for basic health care.

As Brosi put it, “It is unthinkable at 23 years later that we should all be here on a 17-degree day standing outside this memorial begging for the funding to recognize the people who did the work.”

This is not just a betrayal of first responders. It’s a betrayal of the promises Republicans made to the American people when they claimed they would “make America great again.”

Final Thoughts

To the voters who are shocked and outraged by this: We freakin’ warned you.

To the first responders and survivors who are being forced to fight for the help they deserve: We see you, and we will not stop fighting for you.

And to every Republican in Congress who let this happen: Shame on you.

That’s all for today’s episode of We Freakin' Warned You. We’ll see you next time — unfortunately, probably with yet another example of why we were right all along.

Enjoying the insights? Help keep the content flowing—subscribe for free or become a paid supporter of independent journalism and receive exclusive weekly eBooks and monthly Audio/Video Books!