EPA pause on job reassignments underscores staff frustrations
EPA's pause on all job reassignments augments a chaotic, competitive, confusing process, agency employees say.
Staffers have been left guessing which positions would be eliminated and if they should apply to the new openings if they wanted to stay at EPA.
'We've been calling it the Hunger Games,' said one employee granted anonymity, referring to the fictional young adult dystopian series where teenagers are forced to compete for survival as part of a government-sponsored game. '1,500 employees scrambling for … we don't even know how many jobs.'
Advertisement
The Office of Research and Development's more than 1,500 staffers have been encouraged to apply for the positions, under assumptions that a shuttered research center, restricted spending powers and draft plans to fire or reassign a majority of researchers were signs of the office's demise.
EPA press officials say ORD was not part of this phase of reorganization, but politically appointed leaders have encouraged research office employees to apply for the positions on the internal job board.
A little more than 50 positions were made available under five offices: the Office of Water; the Office of Air and Radiation; the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention; the Office of the Administrator; and the Office of Land and Emergency Management, which was not included in the reorganization plans announced earlier this month.
Multiple positions with the same title — industrial hygienist, public affairs specialist, IT specialist, to name a few — were made available in two or more offices, according to images of the postings reviewed by POLITICO's E&E News.
It is common for employees at EPA to share the same title. But the positions offered few details on what the job might entail.
'The interviews that were held were very general, without details as to the nature of the work, performance expectation,' said Joyce Howell, executive vice president of American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, the union representing the largest number of EPA employees.
In response to questions on how many people the agency is hoping to find to fill these positions and questions on if there will be another round of lateral reassignments, EPA's press office referred to the agency's policy to not speak on personnel actions.
'During one of the calls they made it sound like these offers are more like wish lists, because they aren't entirely sure how many positions they get to fill,' said the employee granted anonymity.
The employee said they were offered a position in the land office and was asked to fill out paperwork by Friday, before hearing about other positions they applied for in other offices.
'I absolutely believe they are competing against the other program offices,' the employee said.
During a Senate hearing this week on EPA's budget, agency Administrator Lee Zeldin dodged questions about target employment levels, adding that 'each office is going to be identifying how much that office needs.'
When Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) asked if 10,000 workers may be the goal for the agency, which had roughly 14,700 employees at the end of the Biden administration, Zeldin said that 'is lower than the actual number.'
More than 3,000 EPA staffers signed up to take one of the agency's 'early out' offers, as part of the Trump administration's mission to reduce the size and spending of the federal government. It is unclear how many people have left the agency on their own terms since President Donald Trump took office in January.
Despite the court-ordered temporary halt on EPA's reorganization plans, that does not affect the timeline to accept or decline agreement proposals being sent to the 2,617 employees who signed up for the agency's second deferred resignation offer, which closed last week, according to an internal memo.
Reach the reporter on Signal at eborst.64.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
28 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump's ‘Big, Beautiful' Bill Gets Slimmed Down in Senate
WASHINGTON—President Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill is getting smaller just as Republicans head into a crucial week, after the Senate's rules arbiter decided several controversial provisions don't qualify for the special procedure the GOP is using to bypass Democratic opposition. The tax-and-spending megabill centers on extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts, delivering on the spirit of his campaign promises to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime, and providing big lump sums of money for border security and defense. Those new costs are partially offset by spending cuts, in particular to Medicaid.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US Embassy working to evacuate Americans from Israel: Huckabee
America's ambassador to Israel said Wednesday the United States is working to evacuate U.S. citizens from the country as an escalating conflict with Iran enters its sixth day. 'Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel- US Embassy in Israel @usembassyjlm is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures,' Ambassador Mike Huckabee posted on social platform X. He noted Americans must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive updates and alerts on travel. The U.S. State Department on Saturday authorized family members of U.S. personnel and nonemergency employees to depart Israel 'due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.' The State Department currently advises against travel to Israel, citing the risk of armed conflict, terrorism and civil unrest. Hundreds of thousands of Americans live in Israel, many with dual citizenship. Other countries have also started evacuating citizens from Israel. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Tuesday that Beijing was starting evacuations. 'The ministry and embassies are making every effort to protect the safety of Chinese nationals in Iran and Israel and to swiftly organise the evacuation of Chinese nationals,' Guo said during a daily press briefing. Thailand's prime minister said Tuesday the air force has planes on standby to evacuate some 40,000 Thai citizens in Israel, who mostly work in agriculture. Some European countries have also moved to pull citizens out of the country, Politico reported Tuesday. The Polish Foreign Ministry announced it would evacuate about 200 citizens; the Czech Republic said it has evacuated about 70 citizens; and Lithuania said it would begin evacuations Tuesday. Israel launched its largest-ever attack on Iran on June 13, prompting retaliatory strikes from Iran. A tit-for-tat exchange of missile strikes has continued through the week, as President Trump reportedly considers joining Israel's campaign to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities. With the country's main airport closed, Israel's government also issued a do-not-travel advisory telling citizens to avoid flying into Egypt and Jordan and entering Israel by land. 'We would like to reiterate that a Level 4 travel warning applies to the areas of the Sinai and Jordan, reflecting a high threat,' according to a message from Israel's National Security Council. 'We recommend avoiding arrival to these areas. These warnings are especially important during this tense period.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
America's economy faces a potential war shock: Surging oil prices
The American economy faces the unwelcome prospect of reignited inflation after the United States launched strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran. High oil and gas prices are a near certainty, experts say. The big question now: How long will the fossil fuels price spike last? Oil prices are expected to rise by about $5 per barrel when markets open Sunday night, according to experts. 'We are looking at $80 oil on the open,' said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates. US oil hasn't closed above $80 a barrel since January and has largely hovered between $60 and $75 a barrel since August 2024. Relatively tame oil prices have lowered gas prices to below $3 a gallon in many parts of the country, a major source of price relief for inflation-weary consumers. It's unclear if any major spike in oil prices will be sustained for a long period. Oil prices have risen about 10% since Israel's surprise attack on June 13 and then fell on Friday after US President Donald Trump announced a two-week deadline on whether to strike Iran. 'One shouldn't necessarily assume that just because the price of oil goes up, it's going to stay there. It doesn't,' said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist for the accounting firm RSM. The direction oil prices take is likely to depend on whether Iran's parliament decides to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade route that accounts for about 20% of the world's crude oil. On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country has 'a variety of options' when deciding how to respond to the US attacks and a prominent adviser to Iran's supreme leader has already called for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group and former energy adviser to President George W. Bush, said that should Iran cut off the world's oil supply by closing the strait it would risk more military force from the United States and its allies. Iran could also attack infrastructure in the Persian Gulf that treats and exports oil and gas. 'It's possible they will decide the only thing that can dissuade President Trump is the fear of an oil price spike,' he said. 'They have to actually create that fear.' Appearing Sunday on Fox News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, adding that closing it would do more damage to other economies than the US economy. China buys a third of all oil that comes from the Persian Gulf, while the United States buys less than 3%. 'I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,' Rubio said. Rubio added that closing the strait would hurt other countries' economies more than the US economy. Meanwhile, American consumers may soon feel a price shock at the pump. 'It takes five days or so for stations to pass along the prices they see in one day. If oil markets do surge today and then tomorrow, it could start showing up at the pump in a matter of hours,' said Patrick De Haan, vice president of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, a fuel tracking platform. According to Lipow, should the Strait of Hormuz be affected, the price of oil could rise to $100 a barrel, which would raise gas and diesel prices by about 75 cents per gallon from recent levels. Meanwhile, US trade policies combined with the war with Iran 'strongly suggest inflation will be moving faster and higher over the next 90 days,' according to Brusuelas. Many mainstream economists argue that the low inflation of the spring represents a calm before the summer storm, when they expect prices to rise because of Trump's tariffs. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
