"EPA Chief Seeks To Reassure Employees As Specter Of Trump Looms"

"In a speech to staff, Michael Regan rebuked the Trump administration’s efforts to sideline climate scientists."

"When President Biden took office in January 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency was a shell of its former self. Climate scientists had been sidelined, employee morale had plummeted, and hundreds of workers had left the agency under President Donald Trump, who once vowed to eliminate the EPA “in almost every form.”

On Thursday morning — hours before the first presidential debate of the 2024 election — EPA Administrator Michael Regan reminded his staff of this era and reassured them about the future. In a speech to roughly 600 EPA employees, Regan recounted how the Trump administration hobbled the agency and how the Biden administration has rebuilt it.

The Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity while on the job, made the speech tricky for Regan. He took care not to violate the act; he did not mention Trump by name or explicitly endorse Biden."

Maxine Joselow reports for the Washington Post June 27, 2024.

Source: Washington Post, 06/28/2024