White House Says EPA Will Cut 65 Percent of Spending, Not Staff

The Environmental Protection Agency has terminated 388 probationary employees and placed nearly 200 employees on leave.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks at the East Palestine Fire Department in Ohio on Feb. 3, 2025. Rebecca Droke/AP

The White House has clarified remarks made by President Donald Trump during his first Cabinet meeting on Feb. 26, after he said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin plans to initiate massive job cuts at the agency.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a Feb. 27 statement to the media that Trump was referring to agency spending and not staffing levels when he said that Zeldin informed him that the agency will be “cutting 65 or so percent of the people from environmental.”