Despite Spending Caps, EPA’s ‘Highest Budget in History’ Proposes Hiring More Than 2,000

House appropriations panel Republicans say with workforce boost, agency is seeking to sidestep states and expand federal regulatory role.

The logo of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seen in Washington, D.C., on March 16, 2017. Getty Images

The Biden administration’s $11 billion Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budget request for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) complies with last July’s Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) in trimming $1 billion from its annual spending plan, yet somehow still calls for hiring 2,023 new employees.

“I am astounded by this proposed increase” in the agency’s workforce even under FRA spending caps, said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee during a 90-minute April 30 review of EPA’s proposed FY25 budget.