The retrograde environmental protection agency The career employees who oversee scientific research, the application of pollution laws, cleaning hazardous waste and the agency’s human resources service and will replace them with appointments policies, according to two people familiar with the approach.
This decision would give the Loyalists of the Trump administration more influence on the aspects of the agency which were traditionally led by non -partisan experts who served in republican and democratic administrations.
This would also facilitate the Trump administration to get around the congress. Although those who officially supervise the EPA sections must be confirmed by the Senate, new named people could assume the role of acting department chiefs, bypassing the need for approval from the congress.
“As is common practice and has become more widespread between administrations, EPA has updated its organizational structure to correspond to other federal agencies,” said Molly Vaseliou, spokesperson for EPA, in a press release.
EPA emerges as a case study in the lessons that Trump learned from his first mandate when Career staff have often thwarted The efforts of his administration to put the scientists in hammer and repeal the protections of air and water. Mr. Trump’s allies promised that in a second term, they would be more ready to quickly Start dismantling the EPA, the agency that played a central role in the Biden administration strategy to combat climate change.
Mr. Trump stored the agency with people appointed politicians who worked as lawyers and lobbyists for oil and chemical industries. They include David Fotouhi, the candidate for the assistant administrator, a lawyer who recently challenged the ban on asbestos; Aaron Szabo, a lobbyist for the oil and chemical industries which should be the best regulator of air pollution; And Nancy Beck, a longtime lobbyist of the chemical industry, who is a main EPA advisor on chemical security and pollution.
At the same time, there have been aggressive movements to exhaust the workforce of the EPA. In recent days, the Trump administration has warned more than 1,100 agency employees who had been hired in the past year that They could be “immediately” finished at any time.
The change in high management ranks affects four key areas of EPA, they are the research and development office, the agency’s scientific research branch; the application and compliance office, which is responsible for applying the country’s environmental laws; The land and emergency management office, which oversees cleaning in some of the country’s most contaminated land and responds to environmental emergencies; And the Office of Mission Support, which manages human resources but which also grants and contracts.
Until the Trump administration, career employees have held the second commander’s positions of “the main assistant administrator”. These career staff members have automatically become the actors of their divisions in the absence of an assistant administrator confirmed by the Senate to direct him.
Last week, people occupying these roles were informed by Trump officials that their employment titles would be modified, according to the two people familiar with the decision, who spoke subject to anonymity because they were not not allowed to talk about personnel questions.
Employees have been informed that their wages and services would not change, but that they would be moved to the position of “assistant assistant”, which is indeed a demotion, said people.
The change should take effect this week. Until now, no appointment has been appointed replaced.
Many emerging changes to EPA have been mapped in the 2025 project, a conservative policy game book that Trump had said that he had not read. He calls to set up “reforms” politicians to direct practically all parts of the agency, including scientific and application functions.
It is not unprecedented to install people named politicians in roles where they can carry out the agenda without the approval of the Senate.
During Biden administration, Joseph Goffman was the main assistant administrator of the EPA office supervising air pollution. He held this job for three years, helping to write strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and cars. He was finally confirmed by the Senate in January 2024.
Critics said that the difference was that if EPA air and water offices manage most of the federal regulations and should reflect the president’s priorities, the Trump administration movements inject it supporter in the agency segments which had been neutral.
David Uhlmann, who directed the application of the EPA in the context of the Biden administration, said about the movements that “when they are seen alongside everything else, they are still another unhappy attack on Officials who have devoted their career to public health and environmental protection. ”