Zeldin: Anyone who isn’t ‘committed to’ Trump’s directives shouldn’t be at EPA
Rachel Frazin
Fri, January 31, 2025
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said Friday that anyone who is uncommitted to carrying out President Trump’s directives may not belong at the agency.
“I don’t believe that anyone should be here at EPA who is not committed to the agency mission and the lawful directives coming from the duly elected president of the United States,” Zeldin told reporters.
However, he also said he valued people who may have different opinions on how to best carry out Trump’s policies.
“I love hearing a diversity of view and thought on decisions that we have to make here within the agency,” Zeldin said.
“When a lawful directive comes from the president of the United States, any president of the United States, to have an agency achieve a goal within a deadline, there are oftentimes many different ways to get that done,” he added.
Zeldin, who was confirmed to lead the EPA on Wednesday, also predicted that there will be “a headcount reduction in agencies all across the federal government.”
“For us, we have to closely monitor who is deciding to stay and who’s deciding to go, and making sure that we’re filling all of our most important positions with urgency,” he added.
His comments come after the Trump administration sent a memo to federal employees offering buyouts if they do not wish to return to work. It also comes after Trump has indicated that he could use a tool called “Schedule F” to make it easier to fire career officials.
Opponents of doing so have expressed concerns that such cuts could result in a “brain drain” at science agencies like the EPA.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc.
Rachel Frazin
Fri, January 31, 2025
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said Friday that anyone who is uncommitted to carrying out President Trump’s directives may not belong at the agency.
“I don’t believe that anyone should be here at EPA who is not committed to the agency mission and the lawful directives coming from the duly elected president of the United States,” Zeldin told reporters.
However, he also said he valued people who may have different opinions on how to best carry out Trump’s policies.
“I love hearing a diversity of view and thought on decisions that we have to make here within the agency,” Zeldin said.
“When a lawful directive comes from the president of the United States, any president of the United States, to have an agency achieve a goal within a deadline, there are oftentimes many different ways to get that done,” he added.
Zeldin, who was confirmed to lead the EPA on Wednesday, also predicted that there will be “a headcount reduction in agencies all across the federal government.”
“For us, we have to closely monitor who is deciding to stay and who’s deciding to go, and making sure that we’re filling all of our most important positions with urgency,” he added.
His comments come after the Trump administration sent a memo to federal employees offering buyouts if they do not wish to return to work. It also comes after Trump has indicated that he could use a tool called “Schedule F” to make it easier to fire career officials.
Opponents of doing so have expressed concerns that such cuts could result in a “brain drain” at science agencies like the EPA.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc.
EPA workers receive emails warning their employment could be terminated
THIS IS WHAT DEREGULATION LOOKS LIKE
Literally every day, folks are afraid to turn their computers on. They don’t know what message will be coming out next.
Hannah Rabinowitz, Ella Nilsen, Alayna Treene and Rene Marsh,
CNN
Fri, January 31, 2025
The United States Environmental Protection Agency building , in Washington.
More than 1,100 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency received notice this week that they were deemed to be on probationary status and warning they could be fired immediately, according to an email obtained by CNN.
Probationary employees receiving the email have been working at the agency for less than a year. The emails began to go out late on Wednesday afternoon, according to an EPA union official.
The same message will be sent to other agency workforces, a White House official said. Across the US government, the latest data shows there are more than 220,000 employees on probation.
“As a probationary/trial period employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you pursuant to 5 CFR § 315.804,” the EPA email to probationary employees reads. “The process for probationary removal is that you receive a notice of termination, and your employment is ended immediately.”
“Each employee’s status will be determined individually,” the email adds.
The email also spells out an appeals process employees can take to see if they are eligible for extra protection.
The approach is similar to how Elon Musk, now a key Trump adviser, handled layoffs when he bought Twitter — make a new email alias (in this case, notice@epa.gov) and then send mass termination letters to everyone on it.
The US Office of Personnel Management declined to comment, and the White House and EPA did not respond to requests for additional comment.
The EPA union official said these probationary employees aren’t the same as at-will employees; they have less protection than tenured employees, but they have rights to appeal.
The union official said EPA will have to make a finding as to every single probationary employee that is being let go – either that their performance is poor or that they had a disciplinary issue. Veterans and those with tenure have extra layers of protection. Attorneys who work at the EPA and AFGE, the union representing a large number of EPA employees, are counseling people who are probationary employees on how to respond to these emails and waiting to see what further action is taken.
The EPA emails come after the Office of Personnel Management sent a mass email to federal workers Tuesday night telling them if they resign now, they would be paid through September 30 even though they likely wouldn’t have to work, or could at least keep working remotely.
The email specified that those who choose not to opt into the program – referred to as a “deferred resignation” offer – can’t be given “full assurance regarding the certainty” of their position or agency moving forward. It added that, should their job be eliminated, they “will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”
The email, sent from a new government alias HR1@opm.gov, contained the subject line “Fork in the Road,” the same subject line of an ultimatum message Musk sent to his employees at Twitter in 2022.
Musk has made clear in recent months that a top priority for the Department of Government Efficiency, which he is helming, would be to rid the federal workforce of employees deemed as underperforming.
Marie Owens Powell, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, said morale at EPA was suffering.
“It’s bad, it’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Literally every day, folks are afraid to turn their computers on. They don’t know what message will be coming out next.”
Mass layoffs of probationary employees could disproportionately impact younger workers, said Rob Shriver, acting director of OPM under President Joe Biden.
“There has been a longstanding struggle to get younger people interested in public service,” Shriver said. “We worked hard to fix that, hiring roughly 13% more people under the age of 30 in 2024 than 2023. That progress could now be undone as these young people are going to be particularly affected by this.”
Fri, January 31, 2025
The United States Environmental Protection Agency building , in Washington.
More than 1,100 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency received notice this week that they were deemed to be on probationary status and warning they could be fired immediately, according to an email obtained by CNN.
Probationary employees receiving the email have been working at the agency for less than a year. The emails began to go out late on Wednesday afternoon, according to an EPA union official.
The same message will be sent to other agency workforces, a White House official said. Across the US government, the latest data shows there are more than 220,000 employees on probation.
“As a probationary/trial period employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you pursuant to 5 CFR § 315.804,” the EPA email to probationary employees reads. “The process for probationary removal is that you receive a notice of termination, and your employment is ended immediately.”
“Each employee’s status will be determined individually,” the email adds.
The email also spells out an appeals process employees can take to see if they are eligible for extra protection.
The approach is similar to how Elon Musk, now a key Trump adviser, handled layoffs when he bought Twitter — make a new email alias (in this case, notice@epa.gov) and then send mass termination letters to everyone on it.
The US Office of Personnel Management declined to comment, and the White House and EPA did not respond to requests for additional comment.
The EPA union official said these probationary employees aren’t the same as at-will employees; they have less protection than tenured employees, but they have rights to appeal.
The union official said EPA will have to make a finding as to every single probationary employee that is being let go – either that their performance is poor or that they had a disciplinary issue. Veterans and those with tenure have extra layers of protection. Attorneys who work at the EPA and AFGE, the union representing a large number of EPA employees, are counseling people who are probationary employees on how to respond to these emails and waiting to see what further action is taken.
The EPA emails come after the Office of Personnel Management sent a mass email to federal workers Tuesday night telling them if they resign now, they would be paid through September 30 even though they likely wouldn’t have to work, or could at least keep working remotely.
The email specified that those who choose not to opt into the program – referred to as a “deferred resignation” offer – can’t be given “full assurance regarding the certainty” of their position or agency moving forward. It added that, should their job be eliminated, they “will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”
The email, sent from a new government alias HR1@opm.gov, contained the subject line “Fork in the Road,” the same subject line of an ultimatum message Musk sent to his employees at Twitter in 2022.
Musk has made clear in recent months that a top priority for the Department of Government Efficiency, which he is helming, would be to rid the federal workforce of employees deemed as underperforming.
Marie Owens Powell, president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, said morale at EPA was suffering.
“It’s bad, it’s probably the worst I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Literally every day, folks are afraid to turn their computers on. They don’t know what message will be coming out next.”
Mass layoffs of probationary employees could disproportionately impact younger workers, said Rob Shriver, acting director of OPM under President Joe Biden.
“There has been a longstanding struggle to get younger people interested in public service,” Shriver said. “We worked hard to fix that, hiring roughly 13% more people under the age of 30 in 2024 than 2023. That progress could now be undone as these young people are going to be particularly affected by this.”
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