Politics
Duckworth, Durbin Urge Trump Administration to Reinstate EPA Workers Who Signed ‘Declaration of Dissent’
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) building is seen in Washington on Sept. 21, 2017. (AP Photo / Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin of Illinois were among 17 senators who signed a letter earlier this week urging the Trump administration to reinstate Environmental Protection Agency employees placed on leave after they signed a statement criticizing the administration for “recklessly undermining the EPA mission.”
“We urge you to restore these employees to active service immediately and affirm your employees’ ability to express their viewpoints without fear of retaliation, because debate and dissent are valuable policymaking tools,” the senators wrote in a Wednesday letter, which was addressed to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
About 140 EPA workers, including some in the Chicago area, were placed on administrative leave in early July for signing a letter addressed to Zeldin titled, “Declaration of Dissent,” which laid out how they believed various policies by the Trump administration undermined the agency’s mission of protecting human health and the environment.
An EPA spokesperson said in a statement the agency has a “zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting” the Trump administration’s agenda.
Employees were notified that they had been placed in a “temporary, non-duty, paid status” for the next two weeks, pending an “administrative investigation,” according to a copy of the email obtained by The Associated Press. “It is important that you understand that this is not a disciplinary action,” the email read.
The senators argued in their letter federal employees are permitted to speak out on matters of public concern in their personal capacities, even in dissent, because the First Amendment protects their speech. The senators also noted the EPA initially indicated concluding its investigation on July 17, with reports indicating it was then extended through Friday.
“We trust that once your investigation is complete, you will reinstate the EPA employee signatories to active service immediately and take steps to protect workers from retaliation when exercising their First Amendment rights,” the letter read.
In their “declaration of dissent,” EPA employees described how the Trump administration has undermined the EPA mission through its embrace of a “fossil fuel-powered auto industry,” cuts to the agency’s workforce and grants, along with actions that “contradict EPA’s own scientific assessments on human health risks,” particularly regarding asbestos, mercury and greenhouse gases.
Environmental advocates, elected leaders and EPA workers gathered at Federal Plaza downtown Monday ahead of the Trump administration’s now proposed repeal of a landmark federal determination that allows the EPA to help combat climate change.
Loreen Targos, executive vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 union, said Monday the “endangerment finding” has allowed the EPA to regulate man-made contributors of climate change, including carbon dioxide and methane emissions.
“The rate of climate change is accelerating beyond what scientists have said is safe for the species alive on this earth, including humanity,” Targos said. “I see the rate of extreme storms that are supposed to be 1,000-year floods happening every year, the intensity of hurricanes and how they’ve changed in these ways that even our strongest predictions didn’t predict.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]
