Zeldin Likely to Cut 65 Percent of EPA Staff, Says Trump

The president says staff at the agency included ‘a lot of people that weren’t doing their job.’

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks as US Vice President JD Vance visits the East Palestine Fire Department in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3, 2025. Rebecca Droke/POOL/AFP

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump announced that the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, was moving to lay off almost two-thirds of his agency’s employees.

“I spoke with Lee Zeldin, and he thinks he’s going to be cutting 65 or so percent of people from environmental,” Trump said.