‘Targeted and belittled’: scientists at US environmental agency speak out as layoffs begin
President Donald Trump and his team view the Environmental Protection Agency as a threat to US prosperity. Workers have been waiting for the axe to fall.
By Jeff Tollefson
Before Donald Trump became US president for the second time last month, one of his Republican allies revealed a plan to put US government employees “in trauma” so that they would leave their jobs. The strategy, articulated by Russell Vought, now a key figure on Trump’s White House team, was one part of a larger plan to downsize and defund government agencies. Less than a month into the new administration, many scientists at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) say Vought’s plan seems to be working.
Dread and determination: how climate scientists are preparing for Trump 2.0
“I’m scared to open my computer every morning,” says one EPA scientist who asked for anonymity because they fear reprisal. They are one of the more than 1,000 employees tasked with regulating air pollution, researching the health effects of toxic chemicals and more who were notified last week that they might be fired. These staff members are still in their initial, ‘probationary’ period — usually within one year of starting their jobs — and therefore can be fired at any time, said an agency e-mail they received.
