The National Institutes of Health, the IRS, the National Park Service, the FBI and now the Environmental Protection Agency is in President Donald Trump‘s crosshairs for staff cuts.
Plans to reorganize the EPA were announced Friday by the Trump Administration, including major staff cuts, especially for scientific research within the environmental agency, as reported by NPR.
Staffing cuts come after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in March the possibility of ending more than two dozen American environmental rules and policies. The EPA planned to close offices that focus on environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and freeze millions of dollars of grant funding across the country. Such changes are the reason for a reduction of staff by approximately 200, and 175 were transferred to other offices.
The EPA is just the latest after the Trump Administration‘s first 100 days included firing scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Climate Assessment.
Staff will be cut back to 1980s levels, according to Zeldin, former President Ronald Reagan‘s time in office, to “operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.” The EPA’s workforce is approximately 15,000. During the Reagan Administration, the EPA employed between 11,000 and 14,000.
Major changes are in store for the Office of Research and Development (ORD), which provides scientific analysis on the risks of air pollution, chemicals and other environmental hazards to Americans. The ORD has historically provided research on some of America‘s most challenging environmental issues, such as identifying the sources of PFAS as health hazards. A research lab in North Carolina determined that breathing in different amounts of ozone can lead to health problems like asthma. ORD’s science is relied on by policymakers to create rules to protect Americans from pollution.
“By splitting things up or eliminating that expertise, we put people at greater risk and we put this country at greater risk,” former EPA official Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta said.
Zelden previously announced his plan to cut EPA’s overall budget by 65 percent in the years to come. The Trump Administration submitted a budget to Congress with a roughly 45 percent cut to ORD’s budget.
Zeldin wrote in a Newsweek op-ed published Friday that the reorganization efforts are meant to “transform the EPA into a more efficient and effective agency.” The proposed changes will save approximately $300 million by 2026, a 3 percent savings compared to 2024’s more than $9 billion budget.
“The magnitude of these kinds of cuts would really affect the entire research enterprise of the EPA,” Chris Frey, a dean of research at North Carolina State University who led ORD during the Biden Administration, said.
CNN reported a week ago that the Trump Administration plans to end two key EPA divisions that focus on climate change and energy efficiency, including the Energy Star program, which Trump threatened to dismantle or privatize during his first term as president.
“Eliminating the Energy Star program would directly contradict this administration’s promise to reduce household energy costs. For just $32 million a year, Energy Star helps American families save over $40 billion in annual energy costs. That’s a return of $350 for every federal dollar invested,” Paula Glover, president of the nonprofit coalition Alliance to Save Energy, said in a statement to CNN.
Former President George H.W. Bush in 1992 implemented the Energy Star program and it became recognized by more than 90 percent of American households. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican, told CNN she was “baffled” by the Trump Administration’s decision to cut the Energy Star program.
“I know that my constituents like knowing what the energy usage is of a particular appliance so that they can factor that into their buying decisions,” Collins said.
Joe Goffman led the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation when President Joe Biden was in office and he said the program is “nearly universally supported” by manufacturers, retailers, home builders and U.S. consumers.
The EPA will close its climate change division and climate protection partnership division, which are both within the Office of Air and Radiation. Climate programs will be impacted such as the greenhouse gas reporting program and partnerships on methane.
Under Trump, the EPA announced in March its intention to reconsider and nullify a consequential scientific finding on the dangers of climate pollution that has served as the basis for federal regulations to curb pollution. Without the precedent, the EPA would no longer have the authority to manage the pollution that causes global warming.
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Rebecca Barnabi
