Trump’s head of the EPA Scott Pruitt has been in the news quite a bit lately, and for good reason.
After taking the lead on pulling the U.S. out of a draconian international climate treaty, now he’s taking an axe to the EPA itself.
Making good on Trump’s promise to reduce the federal workforce, Pruitt has ordered the agency to follow through with major cuts to staff.
More than twenty percent to be exact.
Now lifelong bureaucrats are fighting back with claims of doom and peril if all of these ‘essential’ staffers are cut.
Typical.
Here’s more from Washington Examiner…
The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with President Trump’s plan to begin cutting staff at the agency by the end of the fiscal year, according to an internal memo.
A special task force has been created to oversee the process, with workforce reductions, including an employee buyout program, slated to go into effect by the end of September, according to a memo issued by EPA Deputy Administrator Michael Flynn.
“Streamlining and reorganizing is good government and important to maximizing taxpayer dollars,” said EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman. “This includes looking at developing opportunities for individuals to retire early.”
An OMB memo “requires all agencies to begin taking immediate actions on near-term workforce reductions,” Flynn wrote. “In light of this guidance, we will begin the steps necessary to initiate an early out/buyout … program.”
Flynn said the “goal is to complete this program by the end of fiscal 2017,” which is Sept. 30.
EPA employs about 15,000 workers, 3,200 of whom are targeted to be cut under Trump’s budget blueprint.
Flynn noted that the EPA would not be ending a hiring freeze at the agency, despite the administration lifting the government-wide freeze this month.
