Government

"U.S. EPA's internal watchdog has put the White House on notice that its lean budgets could hinder its efforts to root out waste and fraud."

"The Republican congressman picked by President Trump to lead NASA is facing headwinds over his past comments on science, including a skeptical view on climate change."

"The U.S. region most vulnerable to tsunamis - the massive waves of water unleashed by undersea earthquakes - is dangerously under-prepared, experts and officials in Oregon and Washington state said after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake this week."

"Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke today [Wednesday] appointed P. Daniel Smith as the new acting director of the National Park Service, replacing Mike Reynolds, who's taking over as superintendent of Yosemite National Park."

"Council on Environmental Quality nominee Kathleen Hartnett White, one of the White House's most controversial staffing choices, may be stuck in the Senate."

"The Environmental Protection Agency’s operations will continue through next week even if government funding expires at midnight, Administrator Scott Pruitt informed agency employees in a message Friday."

"As a Friday deadline for a government shutdown approached, the Trump administration began setting plans in motion to halt scores of federal functions — even as it scrambled to keep hundreds of national parks and monuments open to the public to minimize anger over the disruption of services."

"A lack of federal funding could force the state of South Dakota to stop monitoring water for lead and copper, cease regulating wastewater and otherwise pare back pollution control programs."