President Donald Trump’s mass resignation plan took a sledgehammer to EPA’s premier research hub as scientists and engineers accepted his offer to leave.
Four hundred and fifty-six Office of Research and Development employees opted into the “deferred resignation” program last year, more than any other program office or regional branch at the agency, according to EPA data obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. The loss of scientific know-how comes as the Trump administration closes the research office as part of a far-reaching reorganization and thousands of employees have departed across the organization.
Dan Costa, who served at EPA for more than three decades, said the resignation offer “eviscerated” and “put a knife into the heart of the program,” setting back the agency’s research enterprise.
“They were primarily scientists, technicians and engineers,” said Costa, who was the director for the air, climate and energy research program. “Clearly, the effort was to completely destroy any kind of research that EPA would ever do again.”
