Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumEPA lost more than 1,500 workers in first 18 months of Trump administration
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reportedly lost eight percent of its staff in the first 18 months of President Trump's administration due to high numbers of departing staffers and a low number of new hires.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that nearly 1,600 workers left the EPA during that time, while fewer than 400 were hired. The agency's employment has shrunk to its lowest levels since the Reagan administration, the Post noted.
According to data retrieved by the Post under a Freedom of Information Act request, the EPA has lost as many as 260 scientists, 106 engineers and 185 environmental protection specialists," numbers which include both longtime veterans of the department and less experienced employees.
The departures have raised fears of a loss of experience at the agency, the Post reported. According to the paper, a number of employees left their posts citing discontent with new policy directions under the Trump administration.
I felt it was time to leave given the irresponsible, ongoing diminishment of agency resources, which has recklessly endangered our ability to execute our responsibilities as public servants, one former EPA scientist, Ann Williamson, told the Post.
I did not want to any longer be any part of this administrations nonsense, she added.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/405736-epa-lost-more-than-1500-workers-in-first-18-months-of-trump
mahatmakanejeeves
(56,901 posts)The exodus at @EPA: During the first 18 months under Trump, records show, nearly 1,600 workers left EPA, while fewer than 400 were hired. The agencys workforce has fallen to levels not seen since Reagan. w/@eilperin @abtran
Link to tweet
With a shrinking EPA, Trump delivers on his promise to cut government
By Brady Dennis, Juliet Eilperin and Andrew Ba Tran
September 8 at 6:45 PM
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency in almost every form. Were going to have little tidbits left, but were going to take a tremendous amount out.
As president, he is making headway on that promise.
During the first 18 months of the Trump administration, records show, nearly 1,600 workers left the EPA, while fewer than 400 were hired. The exodus has shrunk the agencys workforce by 8 percent, to levels not seen since the Reagan administration. The trend has continued even after a major round of buyouts last year and despite the fact that the EPAs budget has remained stable.
Those who have resigned or retired include some of the agencys most experienced veterans, as well as young environmental experts who traditionally would have replaced them stirring fears about brain drain at the EPA. The sheer number of departures also has prompted concerns over what sort of work is falling by the wayside, from enforcement investigations to environmental research.
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Brady Dennis is a national reporter for The Washington Post, focusing on the environment and public health issues. He previously spent years covering the nations economy. Dennis was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for a series of explanatory stories about the global financial crisis. Follow https://twitter.com/brady_dennis
Juliet Eilperin is The Washington Post's senior national affairs correspondent, covering how the new administration is transforming a range of U.S. policies and the federal government itself. She is the author of two books one on sharks and another on Congress, not to be confused with each other and has worked for The Post since 1998. Follow https://twitter.com/eilperin
Andrew Ba Tran is a data reporter who joined The Post in 2017. Tran previously was a data editor at the Connecticut Mirror's TrendCT.org, Before that, he was a data producer at the Boston Globe, where he contributed to the newsroom's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and aftermath. Follow https://twitter.com/abtran