EPA puts 139 employees on leave who criticized administration
The staffers on leave include 139 current EPA employees who signed an open letter to Administrator Lee Zeldin blasting the Trump administration's regulatory rollbacks and its push to downsize the agency's funding and staffing levels, EPA said Thursday. Those employees are on leave pending an investigation, the agency said, after they signed on to a letter using their official titles and EPA positions.
'We have a ZERO tolerance policy for agency bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the agenda of this administration as voted for by the great people of this country last November,' EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.
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'Unfortunately, a small number of employees signed onto a public letter, written as agency employees, using their official work title, that was riddled with misinformation regarding agency business,' Zeldin said in the statement. 'Our ZERO tolerance policy is in full force and effect and will be unapologetically implemented unconditionally.'
Staffers began to receive notice Thursday that they were being put on 10 days of administrative leave pending an administrative investigation, said Nicole Cantello, president of a union local that represents EPA employees in the Chicago region.
'It's basically a demonstration of weakness, not strength,' said Cantello, who signed onto the letter.
'They couldn't control these people,' Cantello said of the agency leadership. 'Instead of trying to engage them, they decided, 'Oh, yeah, let's discipline them or do an administrative investigation of what happened here,' which is not appropriate, obviously, and completely a dereliction of their duties.'
Marie Owens Powell, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, EPA's largest union, called EPA's actions 'disgraceful.'
It's an 'obvious retaliation for individuals expressing their beliefs,' she said, adding that the union is investigating its legal recourse.
On Monday, the open letter sent to Zeldin blasted the Trump administration for its treatment of EPA and its staff. The missive was organized by Stand Up for Science, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group that has coordinated protests and worked with employees at the National Institutes of Health that have been critical of the Trump administration.
As of Thursday afternoon, the EPA dissent letter had 620 signers, including 387 who signed anonymously because they fear retaliation from the administration. The signatories also include former EPA employees.
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