The letter had accused the Trump administration of politicizing, dismantling, and sidelining the agency
By Maxine Joselow, New York Times
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday placed 144 employees on administrative leave and opened an investigation into their decision to sign a letter accusing the Trump administration of politicizing the agency.
Current and former E.P.A. employees, lawyers, and advocates expressed alarm at the development, saying the agency appeared to be ignoring the employees’ First Amendment rights.
The agency said its actions were warranted because the employees had signed the letter using their official titles and because the letter had denigrated the agency’s leadership. “The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” the EPA press secretary, Brigit Hirsch, wrote in an email.
The 144 employees received emails on Thursday saying they had been placed on leave for the next two weeks “pending an administrative investigation,” according to a copy of the email reviewed by The New York Times. “You are required to provide a current email address and phone number so that we can contact you as part of our investigation,” the email said, adding that the staff members would continue to collect paychecks while on leave.
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