Overview
- The Environmental Protection Agency placed 139 career staffers on paid administrative leave after they signed a public declaration accusing leadership of unraveling health and environmental safeguards.
- Administrator Lee Zeldin justified the move by enforcing a newly declared zero-tolerance policy against employees deemed to be undermining or sabotaging the administration’s agenda.
- The dissent letter detailed five core concerns, including dismantling the Office of Research and Development, reversing progress in vulnerable communities, and ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters.
- American Federation of Government Employees representatives labeled the suspensions blatant retaliation and said they will pursue legal action to defend members’ rights.
- The absence of similar reprisals at the National Institutes of Health, where staffers also issued a dissent letter in June, has intensified scrutiny over the agency’s approach to internal criticism.