With mass layoffs likely on the horizon for employees in the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, concerned Democrats are demanding answers as to how such cuts would impact energy costs and public health.
In scathing letters sent to agency heads Monday, Democratic lawmakers on the Energy and Commerce Democratic Committee leaders condemned the firings of hundreds of EPA and DOE workers that have already taken place, calling the moves “reckless” and a “persistent assault” on civil servants.
“Further cuts appear to be planned pursuant to President [Donald] Trump’s Executive Order that required agencies … to submit a plan … detailing proposed mass layoffs,” both letters accused. The authors included Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Kathy Castor, D-Fla., Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and Paul Tonko. D-N.Y.
The lawmakers said mass cuts would be a “dramatic and dangerous” step in the wrong direction, citing audits from the government Accountability office showing that more employees, not fewer, would help EPA and DOE find waste, fraud, and abuse.
The agency layoffs, facilitated by the Department of Government Efficiency, are part of the Trump administration’s plan to downsize the federal government, including the government workforce
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin had announced the elimination of the Environmental Justice and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion arms of the agency, along with their employees, in March. With the help of DOGE, Zeldin also cut more than $2 billion in agency loans and grants since then.
“The work that EPA career staff do each day is essential to ensuring Americans can breathe clean air and have access to safe drinking water,” lawmakers wrote to Zeldin. “Your persistent assault on career civil servants threatens public health and will make it impossible for EPA to fulfill its mission ‘to protect human health and the environment.’”
The Trump administration has also fired more than 500 DOE employees, and roughly 2,000 DOE employees accepted a buyout offer.
“Destroying programs and indiscriminately eliminating the workforce that is striving to provide reliable energy at lower costs would drive up home electricity prices even as the Trump Administration separately guts programs elsewhere in the government dedicated to assisting families with those costs,” the letter to DOE Secretary Chris Wright reads.
The lawmakers are requesting agency leaders provide reports on the number of EPA and DOE current employees and employee firings, as well as the impact that further personnel or program cuts will have on the American public’s pocketbooks and safety.
Prior to Trump taking office, about 2.4 million Americans worked for the federal government, excluding members of the military and postal service.
