EPA’s Payroll on Track to Be Cut in Half by the End of Trump’s Term in Office
FILE -- Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, speaks to reporters at the White House on June 2, 2017. The Trump administration announced Oct. 9, 2017, that it would take formal steps to repeal President Barack Obamas signature policy to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, setting up a bitter fight over the future of Americas efforts to tackle global warming. (Al Drago/The New York Times)
While the national political press debates about President Donald Trump’s competency, and the possibility of Oprah as President, the Trump administration itself keeps chugging along.
At the EPA, in particular, where Administrator Scott Pruitt has announced that the agency is already down to Reagan-era levels of employment and is on track to cut its payroll in half by the end of Trump’s current term in office:
The Environmental Protection Agency, seen by President Trump as a bloated bureaucratic whale, is on schedule to fulfill his promise to cut its staff nearly in half by the end of his first term, according to officials.
The EPA Tuesday provided to Secrets its first year staff cutting results which show that the agency is below levels last seen during former President Reagan’s administration.
And if just those slated to retire by early 2021 leave, Administrator Scott Pruitt and his team will have reduced a staff of nearly 15,000, to below 8,000, or a cut of 47 percent.
“We’re proud to report that we’re reducing the size of government, protecting taxpayer dollars and staying true to our core mission of protecting the environment,” Pruitt said in a statement to Secrets.
Want to know why so many Trump supporters stay loyal to him despite his abrasive and, at times, bizarre behavior?
This sort of thing is why.
The national economy is very, very strong right now. A lot of the credit for that is being given to the recent tax reform, but I don’t think we can set aside the work the Trump administration has done in the area of regulation.
For states like North Dakota the EPA is a major obstacle to success and prosperity. Whether it’s agriculture or energy development, our state’s two largest industries, the EPA has its fingers in the pie.
There is agreement, even among North Dakota Democrats like Senator Heidi Heitkamp, that the EPA is bloated and burdensome. Cutting that agency down to size, and refocusing its mission on actually protecting the environment and away from political agendas, is a major boon for our state.
