EPA employees whose paychecks originate from former President Joe Biden’s climate and infrastructure laws would no longer be authorized to work through a government shutdown, according to an updated plan.
The agency’s March 2025 “contingency plan” would take effect this weekend if Congress fails to reach an agreement before appropriations expire Friday night. The updated plan includes few changes from September 2024, the most recent plan listed online.
Of the 16,737 “agency employees expected to be on board before implementation of the plan,” 1,260 would continue working, either because their work is considered essential or because it is funded through other measures. Last September, 1,710 of the 16,851 total employees would not have been furloughed.
Earlier this month, EPA updated the plan “to remove Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act activities,” it says. The September version said those staffers, whose jobs were funded by those two laws, not annual appropriations, would not be furloughed. The new version furloughs those employees.
The agency kept guidance allowing employees and supervisors to coordinate on alternate or remote-working situations, but it removed Biden-era language that said furloughed activities “can be performed remotely unless notified otherwise.”
Michael Molina, principal deputy assistant administrator for the mission support office, would be in charge of implementing the plan. Molina, who served as a top adviser at EPA during President Donald Trump’s first term, has faced ethics questions over potential conflicts of interest stemming from his oil and gas stocks.
Congress’ funding deadline comes the day after agencies are supposed to submit plans to reduce their workforce, in line with the Trump administration’s efforts to massively cut back on federal spending. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has signaled a goal to reduce the agency’s spending by 65 percent, with the two Biden-era spending laws taking center stage as prime examples of the agency’s “waste and abuse.”
So far, EPA said it has fired nearly 400 employees on probationary status and put nearly 200 environmental justice workers on administrative leave. Their employment statuses remain murky — the agency has asked some of those employees to return, and a federal court Thursday ruled the Trump administration must reinstate thousands of federal workers who were fired.
All employees placed on administrative leave would be placed on furlough and, like other employees, paid retroactively, according to a newly added section on EPA’s funding lapse FAQ.
EPA did not respond to questions ahead of publication.
House lawmakers on Tuesday approved a measure that would continue funding government operations through Sept. 30. Having lost support of at least one Republican, at least eight Democrats would need to vote in favor of advancing the resolution in the Senate, which includes cuts on some energy and environment projects.
