FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2025
EPA Workforce Reductions Gut Science, Enforcement, and Leave Communities Unprotected
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today’s announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirming nearly 4,000 workforce reductions, including through Reductions in Force (RIFs) and the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), signals a systematic dismantling of the agency’s ability to protect public health and the environment. The Environmental Protection Network notes that these figures do not account for a third round of DRP specifically targeting the Office of Research and Development (ORD), suggesting that the true scale of reductions is even larger than disclosed. Beyond ORD, these cuts likely extend to critical enforcement and program staff, with no transparency from EPA leadership about where and how these reductions are occurring.
“Today’s cuts dismantle one of the world’s most respected environmental health research organizations,” said Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former EPA Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science. “EPA’s science office has long been recognized internationally for advancing public health protections through rigorous science. Reducing its workforce under the guise of cost savings is both misleading and dangerous. This does not save taxpayers money; it simply shifts costs to hospitals, families and communities left to bear the health and economic consequences of increased pollution and weakened oversight. The people of this country are not well served by these actions. They are left more vulnerable.”
Jeremy Symons, Senior Policy Advisor for the Environmental Protection Network, added: “These layoffs are targeted to do maximum long-term damage to the Environmental Protection Agency because polluter lobbyists are calling the shots. This administration claims to champion transparency, but there is nothing transparent about how these cuts are being executed. This is not honest government. It’s a deliberate strategy to shrink the agency’s capacity while shielding that reality from public view because nine out of ten Americans oppose cuts to EPA,” according to a nationwide poll.
The Environmental Protection Network stresses that today’s actions, combined with the earlier elimination of the agency’s Environmental Justice and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and continued environmental protection rollbacks, hollow out EPA’s ability to serve all communities and fulfill its legal mandates. Environmental Protection Network stands with displaced EPA staff and calls on Congress, state governments, and the public to demand full disclosure, accountability, and immediate action to restore the agency’s full capacity to protect public health, enforce environmental laws, and serve all communities equitably.
###
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.