As the Trump administration reportedly weighs elimination of EPA’s Office of Research and Development, a half-dozen former chiefs are touting its value to Senate appropriators who could furnish protection via the next yearly spending bill.
The research office “is a unique national asset,” the six wrote in a Tuesday letter to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and other members of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that drafts EPA funding measures. Losing or diminishing the office, they added, “would degrade the ability of the United States to be prepared for the future and responsive to myriad challenges” that lie ahead.
The letter stops short of making a specific request to the panel.
In an interview, Chris Frey, who led the research office under former President Joe Biden, described the appeal as an early step to raise awareness among lawmakers. In response to a question, Frey acceded that one example of a “desirable outcome” would be inclusion of a policy rider in a final spending bill that bars the Trump administration from scrapping the office.
