The Environmental Safety Company (EPA) is inserting staffers who signed a letter of dissent towards the Trump administration’s actions and insurance policies on go away.
The EPA says it has positioned 144 staffers on administrative go away because it investigates the letter. It’s not completely clear whether or not they’ll face additional punishment after the probe.
“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch mentioned in a written assertion.
In a letter made public on Monday, present and former EPA staffers mentioned that the Trump insurance policies “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.”
They expressed considerations about 5 points particularly, saying that the administration is: undermining public belief, ignoring scientific consensus to learn polluters, reversing EPA’s progress in America’s most susceptible communities, dismantling the Workplace of Analysis and Growth and selling a tradition of concern.
“Your decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come. EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water, but instead will increase risks to public health and safety,” the staffers wrote to administrator Lee Zeldin.
In response, the EPA mentioned Monday that it will “proceed to work with states, tribes, and communities to advance the company’s core mission of defending human well being and the atmosphere.”
Zeldin informed reporters in January that employees who’re “not committed” to President Trump’s directives shouldn’t be at there.
“I don’t believe that anyone should be here at EPA who is not committed to the agency mission and the lawful directives coming from the duly elected president of the United States,” he mentioned on the time.
The EPA beforehand fired employees who labored on points associated to environmental justice — tackling air pollution in underserved communities — arguing that it didn’t align with the administration’s place on variety, fairness and inclusion.
