FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2025
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
EPN: Civil Servants Aren’t Bargaining Chips, Congress Must Stop Trump’s Serial Shutdown of EPA
Washington D.C. — Environmental Protection Network (EPN) today condemns the White House’s reported plan to force mass firings of federal employees during a potential government shutdown. According to recent reporting, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has directed agencies to prepare reduction-in-force (RIF) plans targeting employees in programs whose funding is not guaranteed.
Michelle Roos, Executive Director of Environmental Protection Network, made the following statement:
“Civil servants aren’t bargaining chips to be used to gain political points. The new threat is yet another step by the Trump administration to remove career expertise and force through the dangerous rollbacks that will harm millions of Americans while benefiting the small but powerful group of corporations that profit off pollution.
The Trump Administration is already imposing a ‘serial shutdown’ of EPA that’s leaving Americans increasingly exposed to toxic pollution. The serial shutdown started with Elon Musk and is continuing under Lee Zeldin, who has, episode after episode, shuttered, weakened or delayed vital programs—from climate and PFAS protections to enforcement and science.
The only way this stops is if Congress steps in with a bipartisan funding bill that restores guardrails, holds the administration accountable, and ensures EPA actually protects the public.”
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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
Founded in 2017, the Environmental Protection Network harnesses the expertise of more than 650 former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations to provide the unique perspective of former scientists and regulators with decades of historical and subject matter knowledge. Find all of EPN’s recent press statements here.