The EPA Is in Chaos

With the end As the US government shutdown approaches, chaos continues to prevail in federal agencies. EPA workers told WIRED they’ve faced increasing chaos over the past five weeks.

In recent weeks, various phases of furloughs have forced employees to return home in seemingly random waves. Some of the agency’s remaining staff are working on policies friendly to fossil fuels and industrial interests that are a priority for the administration, even as the rest of the government shuts down.

Others have been forced to sit idly by, as the lockdown fires colleagues without notice, and remaining employees have little information about what comes next.

“We recognize people who have been furloughed when we email someone and get an out-of-office message, or we hover over names in Teams for people who show up as out-of-office,” one EPA worker told WIRED. (This worker and others in this story have been granted anonymity because they are not permitted to speak to the press.)

Some of the retained employees are working to revise pollution rules, a key goal of the department’s deregulation. An employee in the Office of Air and Radiation confirmed to WIRED that their team, working to review rules in that office, was still being called back to work, while others in the office — including support staff such as administrative assistants and operations workers — were sent home the week of October 20.

“Staff working in the regulatory part of the air office are still working,” the employee tells WIRED. “A lot of furloughs elsewhere. But we are still working on deregulation measures.” The New York Times reported in mid-October that other employees working to repeal rules friendly to oil, gas and coal interests were also told to “move forward.”

About 4,400 employees had been furloughed at the agency as of late October, WIRED has learned. According to the EPA’s closure plan, which was last updated in September, the agency employed more than 15,000 people as of October 1. In the plan, the agency lists only 1,734 employees expected to be retained in the event of a complete shutdown. These employees will work on “critical agency activities” deemed critical enough to continue, including Superfund activities, disaster assistance, criminal investigations, and research conservation.

After Sunday’s vote in the Senate, the government shutdown could end as early as this week.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the public face of the government shutdown, has tried to use it as a way to shrink the size of the federal workforce. But more than a month into the shutdown, EPA workers have mostly escaped the deep force cuts and furloughs that have hit other agencies. Many workers are still coming in to do their jobs while the agency tries to continue business as usual. Meanwhile, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin placed the blame squarely on Democrats.