The New York Daily News has discovered that the Trump administration has secretly siphoned nearly $4 million away from a program that tracks and treats FDNY firefighters and medics suffering from post 9/11 related illnesses.

The Treasury Department mysteriously started withholding parts of payments — nearly four years ago  with no explanation.

This {the money} was just disappearing,” the program’s director, Dr. David Prezant,, the FDNY’s Chief Medical Officer.. “It was disappearing — without any notification.”

“The money that we don’t get means that physicians, nurses and support staff are not hired. We have not had to lay off anyone, yet, but we are at that brink,” he explained. “This just isn’t fair. It’s not fair to our patients.”

“The city has been covering some of our shortfall. But in this time of COVID crisis, that cannot continue,” he said.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention notes that thousands of responders and survivors of the 9/11 attack continue to suffer adverse health effects from toxic contaminants, risks of traumatic injury, and physically and emotionally stressful conditions.