Democrats and activists are demanding answers about EPA programs allegedly suspended in the face of the Trump administration’s freeze on federal climate and infrastructure grants and crackdown on environmental justice initiatives.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) joined with House lawmakers, green groups and workers at a rally in front of EPA’s headquarters Thursday afternoon to denounce the so-called Department of Government Efficiency under Elon Musk, the tech billionaire President Donald Trump tasked to oversee a massive government overhaul.
“The request to meet with DOGE, to meet with the EPA, has been refused,” Markey said. “At this moment, there are DOGE apparatus that are terrorizing EPA workers.”
Earlier this week, at least one staffer reportedly hired under DOGE showed up in EPA’s staff directory as a “federal detailee,” but the agency has withheld specifics.
“They’re not hiding this, they’re just hiding what they’re doing inside,” Markey said, calling the DOGE agenda “chaos for cash.”
Under particular scrutiny are programs on climate change and environmental justice. Last night, EPA’s online tool mapping the areas overburdened by pollution, known as EJScreen, was taken offline.
Reports late Wednesday indicated employees under EPA’s environmental justice office were put on administrative leave. EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou said in an email Thursday morning “Office of Environmental Justice employees have not been placed on administrative leave.”
Matthew Tejada, who worked at EPA for 11 years as head of the environmental justice program, said those office workers are “waiting to be told they don’t come to work tomorrow.”
“They absolutely feel threatened by DOGE,” said Tejada, who now works at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“We cannot let this administration disband the Office of Environmental Justice and we will not let them do that,” said Margie Alt, campaign director of the Climate Action Campaign.
The executive order Trump signed last Monday paused disbursements of all federal grants until his administration could review and block any initiatives relating to “woke” policies, including former President Joe Biden’s trademark environmental laws, the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act.
Agency officials indicated earlier this week in a memo that funds were disbursed to some programs after courts ordered the freeze be lifted, but grant recipients say they’re still in limbo.
Markey and other senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee said they have been in contact with EPA asking to get funds released. Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said funds for EPA’s Brownfields program, which helps clean up dilapidated industrial sites through public-private partnerships, were unlocked as of Tuesday night.
EPA did not respond to questions relating to the federal grant freeze or event Thursday afternoon.
Reporter Kevin Bogardus contributed.
