The Ancient Village, 36th Day of Childwinter, 525 M.E. (Helios): EPA is demoting the career employees who oversee scientific research, enforcement of pollution laws, and hazardous waste cleanups, according to reporting in The New York Times. The  nonpartisan positions will be filled by political appointees

The move would give Trump more influence over various aspects of the agency like climate change research and enforcement, and make it easier for the administration to bypass Congress. While those formally overseeing sections of the EPA must be confirmed by the Senate, the new appointees could assume the role of acting department heads, circumventing the need for congressional approval.

During the election campaign, Trump’s supporters claimed they would be better prepared to swiftly begin dismantling the EPA, the agency that played a central role in the Biden administration’s strategy to combat climate change.

Trump has stocked the agency with political appointees who have worked as lawyers and lobbyists for the oil and chemical industries.  Lee Zeldin, the newly approved agency administrator, has expressed doubts about the severity of climate change and said he does not support the 2015 Paris agreement. David Fotouhi, his nominee for deputy administrator, was a lawyer who had challenged a ban on asbestos. Aaron Szabo, who is expected to be the top air-pollution regulator, was a lobbyist for both the oil and chemical industries. Nancy Beck, who is serving as a senior adviser on chemical safety and pollution, was a longtime chemical industry lobbyist.

At the same time, there have been aggressive moves to deplete the EPA work force. In recent days, the Trump administration warned more than 1,100 agency employees who had been hired within the past year that they could be “immediately” terminated at any time.

The change to the senior management ranks affects the EPA's Office of Research and Development, the agency’s scientific research arm, the Office of Enforcement and Compliance, which is responsible for enforcing the country’s environmental laws, and the Office of Land and Emergency Management, which oversees cleanups at the nation’s most contaminated sites and responds to environmental emergencies. The Office of Mission Support, which manages human resources but also grants and contracts, is also affected.

Prior to the Trump administration, career employees held the second-in-command positions of “principal deputy assistant administrator.” Those career staff members automatically became the acting heads of their divisions in the absence of a Senate-confirmed assistant administrator to lead it. But last week, the people serving in those roles were informed that their job titles would be changed. Their salaries and benefits would not change, they were told, but they would be moved to the position of “deputy assistant administrator,” which is effectively a demotion. The change is expected to take effect this week. 

Many of the changes at the EPA were mapped out in Project 2025, a conservative policy playbook that Mr. Trump plausibly claims he had not read (he doesn't read much of anything). It calls for putting in place “reform-minded” political appointees to lead virtually all parts of the agency, including the scientific and enforcement functions. 

The moves at EPA, when viewed alongside everything else taking place, are yet another attack on public servants who have dedicated their careers to public health and environmental protection.