EPA’s push to quash dissent within its ranks is rippling in and outside the agency.
On Thursday, EPA placed 139 employees on administrative leave for signing onto an open letter criticizing the Trump administration’s policies on climate change and science and for instilling an intimidating workplace. The widespread targeting of dissenters has angered employees, sparked a backlash on Capitol Hill and likely will result in litigation from EPA’s unions.
“It’s almost unprecedented for such a large group of employees, including some very senior current and former EPA employees, to sign an open letter like this,” John Logan, professor and chair of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, told POLITICO’s E&E News. He said those staffers must have believed they would be shielded from pushback from the agency by going public with their concerns.
Yet in President Donald Trump’s second term, his appointees have stripped civil servants’ job protections and fired those who don’t fit with the administration’s goals, such as EPA environmental justice and diversity staffers, Logan noted.
