EPA has resumed its efforts to reorganize the agency after the Supreme Court earlier this month lifted a lower court’s injunction that stalled the Trump administration’s restructuring efforts.
But EPA employees will have less say in where they end up under the restructuring because of the time lost while the injunction was in place, an EPA official told colleagues in an internal email obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The apparent move to limit employees’ options about where they land in the agency signals that EPA is hustling to comply with the administration’s directive to restructure the federal bureaucracy. It’s also frustrating staffers who expected to have more of a say in where they landed after the reshuffle, according to EPA employees granted anonymity because they fear reprisal.
“The one glimmer of hope in getting forced from our jobs was that we would be able to decide where we went,” said one EPA employee. “They are taking that away from us with their manufactured timeline and any ounce of agency we had in this process.”
After President Donald Trump directed a sweeping overhaul of the federal government, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in early May announced a plan to reconfigure the agency. Notably, the administration intended to eliminate its stand-alone science office and redistribute employees among other program offices.
As part of that reorganization, EPA posted jobs available for reassignment on its internal job board known as its Talent Hub, and agency science staffers fearing layoffs raced to apply.
EPA put the internal shuffle on hold in late May when a federal district court judge in California placed a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction on mass layoffs and reorganizations at agencies including EPA.
The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which lifted the injunction earlier this month. The White House said the administration would be “operating immediately” to resume layoffs and restructuring.
“Following the Supreme Court’s July 8, 2025, order staying the May 22, 2025, nationwide preliminary injunction, the agency is moving forward with making selections to fill open positions that will help the agency meet its mission and Power the Great American Comeback,” EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou said Wednesday in an email.
A second EPA employee said they were told by key managers that reassignments will be announced soon.
‘We do not have a lot of time’
In an email Monday, Helena Wooden-Aguilar, a senior career official in EPA’s Office of Mission Support, shared details about the reorganization with colleagues inside the agency.
Wooden-Aguilar requested that EPA officials provide the number of open full-time positions they intend to fill with Talent Hub reassignments. She asked her colleagues to submit all of their selections for Talent Hub reassignments for midnight on Tuesday.
“Finally,” she wrote, “because we do not have a lot of time, the decision of where the employee would like to go is no longer available (in other words, employees will not be given the option to select offices if they were selected by multiple organizations but instead will be placed based on organizational needs/priorities).”
She added, “I realize this is different than how we started; however, the [temporary restraining order] and preliminary injunction has created a shorter timeline for us.”
When the Trump administration early this year directed agencies across the government to draft plans for “large-scale” cuts to their workforces and plans for reorganizations, the administration gave them a Sept. 30 deadline to finalize the restructuring.
More belt-tightening at EPA is expected after that date.
The White House’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget plan would slash the agency’s funding by more than half, which would result in thousands of staff leaving the agency. House Republicans are moving a spending bill that would not be as drastic for EPA but would still cut the agency’s budget by 23 percent.
A third EPA employee pointed to that proposed budget cut in the GOP appropriations bill funding the agency, which the relevant House subcommittee approved Tuesday.
“Not the worst I’ve ever seen, but we’re already starting to see signs of overwork and burnout in those of us who remain,” said that EPA employee. They noted several of the agency’s lawyers and support staff took Trump’s “deferred resignation” program to leave.
“This will get worse,” the third EPA employee said. “And that is not a good thing when you’re out in the field doing remediation of dangerous chemical substances or the inevitable natural disaster.”
The impact could be disproportionately severe for staff in the agency’s Office of Research and Development, said a fourth EPA employee.
“Many ORD scientists have spent years developing specialized skills necessary to protecting public health,” said that employee, a senior career staffer. What “appears to amount to card shuffling will have negative consequences for ensuring EPA decisions are informed by the best available science,” the employee added. “And when they are not — that eventually hurts us all.”
Reporters Sean Reilly and Ellie Borst contributed.
Contact reporters Robin Bravender on Signal at r-bravender.93 and Kevin Bogardus on Signal at KevinBogardus.89.
