Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers on the Trump administration’s gutting of the Justice Department’s environment division.
In a Tuesday letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Reps. Nanette Barragán of California, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and 39 of their colleagues raised concerns about the reassignment of senior environmental lawyers to immigration enforcement the elimination of an entire office within DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, or ENRD.
The Trump administration has also sidelined several ENRD lawyers, including the former head of the Office of Environmental Justice, an office established during the Biden administration to combat pollution and climate impacts in vulnerable communities.
“For decades, these attorneys have held polluters accountable and fought for communities disproportionately impacted by pollution,” Barragán said in a statement accompanying the letter. “This administration’s actions put public health at risk and undermine DOJ’s fundamental responsibilities.”
