Washington, D.C. - United States - June 17, 2024: Exterior of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Building FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2025
CONTACT: Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
EPA Experts Furloughed at Agency Already Being Gutted from Within
“Today’s furloughs will give Americans a taste of the toxic consequences of the deliberate campaign to dismantle EPA piece by piece.”
Washington D.C. – Today, members of EPA’s staff began receiving furlough notices—the latest blow to the agency’s ability to protect the public from toxic pollution. It’s a preview of what’s to come as EPA’s staffing and capacity continue to be eroded by the administration
Peter Murchie, Senior Director at Environmental Protection Network (EPN) and former EPA official made the following statement:
“The health harms facing American families—cancer, childhood asthma, infertility, organ failure—don’t pause for politics. And when EPA’s expert staff are sent home, large parts of the agency’s work simply stop.
Today’s furloughs will give Americans a taste of the toxic consequences of the deliberate campaign to dismantle EPA piece by piece: stripping away critical safeguards, silencing scientists and inspectors, and leaving pollution unchecked.
Congress must act now to end this systematic dismantling and restore the agency’s ability to protect the American people.”
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Founded in 2017, Environmental Protection Network harnesses the expertise of more than 700 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.