EPA is once again offering staffers the chance to voluntarily leave the agency as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to shrink the federal footprint, according to an internal email obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
EPA has reopened its Deferred Resignation Program, or DRP — previously called the “Fork in the Road” — accompanied by voluntary early retirement authority, according to an email that Administrator Lee Zeldin’s office sent to agency staff Monday. The window to apply is open through 11:59 p.m. on May 5, according to the memo.
“For those who choose to accept this offer and participate in the DRP, I thank you for your service at the EPA and wish you well in your future endeavors,” the email states.
The memo is in direct response to Trump’s February order aimed at reducing government “waste” and “bloat,” the office wrote.
But Nicole Cantello, a leader in EPA’s largest union, accused the administration of using the fear of layoffs “to drain EPA of key scientists and engineers tasked with protecting human health and the environment.”
“An undermanned, depleted EPA only serves [the] interests of polluters who look to profit from fouling our air, water and soil,” added Cantello, who heads a Chicago-area local of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a text message Monday.
Like workers at other federal agencies, EPA staffers were first granted the chance for a deferred resignation through the Fork in the Road program from the Office of Personnel Management in late January, shortly after Trump began his second term.
About 545 employees took that initial offer, according to an agency spokesperson who declined in an email to say whether EPA has a target number it hopes will sign up for the new opportunity.
Those that now opt for deferred resignation will go on administrative leave until the end of the fiscal year in September, unless they decide to leave earlier, the memo says.
Meanwhile, the administration — aided by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency — continues its push to slash the ranks of the federal workforce.
Earlier this month, EPA had to provide its second downsizing plan to the White House Office of Management and Budget and the OPM that includes options for “large-scale” reductions in force (RIF), or layoffs.
Agencies often resort to voluntary “early-out” programs as a way of lowering the number of employees who would otherwise be forced out through a RIF.
The Trump administration is already phasing out EPA programs to promote environmental justice and diversity, with some 280 employees warned last week that they could be let go by the end of July.
At a news conference held the same day, however, Zeldin declined to say when a broader restructuring might be announced.
Particularly on edge are employees in the Office of Research and Development, which one EPA proposal targets for elimination as a stand-alone entity and layoffs encompassing as many as three-quarters of its approximately 1,500-strong workforce.
With their professional futures on the line, some say they are getting no information from EPA management. Zeldin, however, outlined an agencywide campaign to collect input.
“We’re speaking to political and career staff in all of these different offices to solicit their insight on ways that they think this agency can operate better,” he said.
As of the first quarter of fiscal 2025, which ended in December, EPA’s core workforce totaled about 14,700 full-time equivalents, according to a report to Congress obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News through the Freedom of Information Act.
EPA management said in the memo Monday that the offer of early retirement and resignations is available for staffers working remotely who haven’t been placed at an agency-assigned worksite, as well as probationary workers currently on administrative leave.
But the program is not being extended to a host of other staffers, including those working in EPA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office of Mission Support, the Office of Inspector General, and the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, according to the memo.
Also excluded are employees who have received an intent to RIF notice; some experts and consultants; and those working in law enforcement, national security and public safety positions, including inspectors and regional criminal enforcement counsels.
Zeldin last week told reporters that EPA would take care to retain the staff it needs to “fulfill all of our statutory obligations.”
While he said final decisions haven’t been made about the number of staff that would ultimately be eliminated, he also struck a conciliatory tone.
“I do not want to lose one good employee, and we’re going to be very thoughtful and deliberate in how we go forward in this process,” Zeldin said. “What’s the perfect number for the agency while we’re figuring out that exact number, the answer should be not one more or one less than what we need to fulfill our statutory obligations, to fulfill our core mission, to be able to power the great American comeback.”
Reporters Jean Chemnick and Kevin Bogardus contributed.
