Trump’s EPA on course to retire half of the agency’s staff

By Tim Pearce

Due to a series of buyouts and retirements, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could cut its workforce by half by the end of President Donald Trump’s first term in office, The Washington Examiner reports.

Several agencies in the Trump administration are focused on a leaner workforce and cutting spending. The EPA is leading the pack. It is on track to reduce the size of the agency anywhere from 25 to 47 percent.

“We’re proud to report that we’re reducing the size of government, protecting taxpayer dollars and staying true to our core mission of protecting the environment,” EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said in a statement to The Washington Examiner.

At the start of 2018, EPA employed 14,162 workers. Through Pruitt’s series of buyouts and generous retirement packages, as well as normal retirements, up to 47 percent of employees will leave the agency in the next five years.

Trump initiated a hiring freeze in Jan. 2017 that will prevent retirees being replaced by new hires.

If the EPA remains on its current course, agency could employ less than 8,000 people in the next few years. It would be the leanest workforce the agency has seen since 1972, two years after it was created.

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13 thoughts on “Trump’s EPA on course to retire half of the agency’s staff

  1. The EPA would regulate a puddle in your driveway! Time for their police state to be scaled back.

  2. EPA has gotten completely out of control and their inability to be open to varying points of view is why the only option is to cut them. For years they have hired single minded activists and their recent activities such as “sue and settle” show that the only answer is to cut them way back. They of course will not understand why they are being cut as they are completely clueless as to the damage they are doing .

    • The article indicates that they are cutting themselves. Isn’t that act aka suicide? The intent of course is to give more freedom to the Plutocrats in their drive to further enrich themselves at the expense of the environment – and ultimately the survival of all of us – including themselves.

      • Just as anyone who is fired gets posted in the papers as they resigned. The EPA is making it look like it was their idea – it surely was not. The EPA is a globalist organization just like the Nature conservancy – neither agency cares one bit about Americans

        • The EPA is a USGOV agency, controlled by the Trump administration. It is being emasculated for the reasons I mentioned, by that administration. It is not independent, ‘global’, or controlled by a mysterious cabal with headquarters in Geneva. Jeez.

    • So the EPA and all the other three letter agencies should just keep growing forever, pumping out more regulations that require an army of attorneys to decipher?
      Sounds like a true socialist dreamland.

      • Dunno what a “socialist dreamland” would consist of, but “all the other three letter agencies” covers a lot of ground. Socialism seems to have nothing directly to do with disastrous climate change, which is the elephant in this room. The EPA is being savaged because it has been trying to moderate that disaster. That activity could, if successful, force the plutocrats to find other ways to enhance their bottom line. Can’t have that, eh?

        • During Obama’s administration, EPA alone published nearly 4000 new rules; the compliance costs were in the hundreds of billions of dollars, which affected everything from jobs to GDP. These unelected bureaucrats were so comfortable in their positions, they continued to enact major regulations without fear of legal recourse or retribution from Congress or the public.
          In clear violation of our Constitution EPA continued writing laws, which is clearly outside the scope of their statutory authority.
          Apparently, you’re fine with a rogue agency exceeding their authority and ignoring our Constitution when you believe they’re acting ‘for the greater good’. Most of the rest of us aren’t. I hope the NEA is up next for a good house cleaning.

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