House Democrats are pressing EPA to reinstate staffers who dissented publicly with President Donald Trump’s policies.
Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Paul Tonko and Yvette Clarke of New York sent a letter Tuesday to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, blasting his move to place 139 agency employees on administrative leave. Those EPA staffers signed an open letter taking issue with the Trump administration’s decisions dealing with climate change and science as well as creating a hostile workplace at the agency where the rank and file are afraid to speak up.
The lawmakers said those employees were whistleblowers raising their concerns to their superiors and Congress and as such should be shielded from retaliation.
“Taking adverse actions against employees for making a protected disclosure — including investigating them and placing them on administrative leave — in a manner that deters others from coming forward is a textbook violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act,” the three lawmakers wrote.
