EPA Floats Eliminating Scientific Office, Laying Off Most Workers

The agency says it is entering the next phase of improvements.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks on a visit to East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2025. Rebecca Droke/Pool/AFP

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to eliminate a national office and fire up to 75 percent of its employees, according to newly reviewed documents.

An EPA reduction-in-force plan proposes the elimination of the Office of Research and Development as a national office, according to Democratic staff members on the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee who reviewed the documents.