EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Tuesday defended his decision to punish employees who were publicly critical of the Trump administration.
Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) pressed Zeldin in a congressional hearing about guidance from EPA’s own ethics and employment law attorneys that those who signed an open dissent letter last summer were exercising their free speech rights and should not be retaliated against by the agency. EPA had placed dozens of staffers who signed the letter on administrative leave for weeks and later fired some and suspended many of them.
Tonko cited internal emails first reported by POLITICO’s E&E News advising the agency not to take “personnel actions” perceived as “retaliatory” or have “a chilling effect” on staff. Another official said there was “no ethics concern” regarding the dissent letter.
The discussion on Capitol Hill came the same day as attorneys for fired EPA staffers filed new complaints with a federal appeal board seeking their jobs back.
