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Hearing Recap: “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Mine Safety and Health Administration”

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 22, 2026

Mining plays a critical role in supporting our economy and America’s energy independence. Today, the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing on how the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is working to protect every miner through the effective enforcement of its safety and health standards, compliance assistance, and smarter use of technology.

Subcommittee Chairman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) opened the hearing by discussing the role the government has in supporting modern-day mining. 

“Going forward, MSHA must uphold strong safety standards while also supporting innovation as technologies and operational demands evolve. This can be achieved by pairing focused, effective enforcement with a strong compliance assistance program that promotes collaboration among employers, workers, and MSHA. By working together, we can develop practical, commonsense policies that prioritize safety and worker wellbeing,” he said.

 
 
The Honorable Wayne Palmer, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, discussed with Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) how the Biden-Harris administration put politically-motivated preferential hiring over mining safety. Assistant Secretary Palmer explained that a 2021 executive order dropped the five-year mining experience requirement for new mine inspectors. The end result was a high rate of individuals failing out of the program. “If it weren’t for this poorly conceived program we would potentially have…more inspectors to perform our inspections which would relieve some of the pressure on the rest of the inspectors,” Assistant Secretary Palmer said. 

“So the Biden administration put hiring unqualified DEI hires ahead of making sure miners were safe?” Rep. Fine summarized.


In his line of questioning, Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN) highlighted how important the coal mining industry is. “There are different types of coal for different purposes…thermal coal for power generation but then there is metallurgical coal which is used in steelmaking…so coal isn’t just one monolithic commodity that is used for electricity generation, it’s important to us for a lot of different reasons and a potential source for some of the critical minerals that the President is trying to re-shore into the United States,” Assistant Secretary Palmer explained.


Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) brought attention to Democrat attacks on the mining industry. “I’m reminded of a comment [Hillary Clinton once said] ‘we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business’…the thing that scares me about it is she represented a lot of people who are just instinctively anti-coal,” he said. 

Bottom line: America’s miners power our nation, and their safety must always come first. With a focus on increasing critical resource production and lasting energy security, the Trump administration is working to protect miners’ rights to a safe workplace. 
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