The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has placed 139 employees on mandatory administrative leave after they signed a critical letter regarding the policies of former President Donald Trump. The agency stated it has “zero tolerance” for workers who undermine the government agenda associated with the Trump administration.
The letter, titled ‘Statement of Dissent,’ was made public this week. It accuses the federal government of engaging in “harmful deregulation,” ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters, and promoting “a culture of fear” within the agency.
The letter emerged amid another round of staff cuts and ongoing reorganization at the EPA, including the dissolution of its research office and the cancellation of billions of dollars in grants. Hundreds of current and recently departed EPA employees signed the document, although names were omitted in the publicly released version.
A prior version of the letter had been sent internally to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler before it became public. According to a statement from the EPA yesterday, “The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats who unlawfully undermine, sabotage, and subvert the government’s agenda.”
The EPA added that the letter misleads the public about the agency’s work and that the 139 employees are being placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted because they used their official titles and positions when signing the letter.
A similar statement was sent in June by employees at the National Institutes of Health to their director, protesting the politicization of research and the disruption of scientific progress.