EPA science advisers’ firings blasted as ‘politically motivated’

By Sean Reilly | 01/29/2025 01:44 PM EST

Left hanging are EPA reviews of lead, nitrogen oxides and ozone, three pollutants associated with serious health and environmental effects.

EPA headquarters.

EPA headquarters in Washington. Francis Chung/POLITICO

The Trump administration abruptly sacked members of two influential EPA advisory panels late Tuesday in a move that one lawmaker assailed as a “politically motivated” purge.

“By removing these independent experts, this administration is — yet again — selling out our nation’s public health and environmental protections to the same polluting industries that bankrolled much of Trump’s campaign,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said in a statement.

Acting EPA Administrator James Payne late Tuesday announced the dismissals of all members of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and the Science Advisory Board in an email obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.

Advertisement

“EPA is working to update these federal advisory committees to ensure that the agency receives scientific advice consistent with its legal obligations to advance our core mission,” Payne said.

GET FULL ACCESS