Applicants for EPA exodus now top 2,000
The number of EPA staffers taking advantage of incentives to retire or quit continues to grow.
As of Thursday evening, the number of candidates for either voluntary early retirement or deferred resignation programs offered late last month stood at 2,042, marking an increase of roughly 200 from that morning, according to figures provided by the agency Friday. The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. EDT Friday.
That total is approximately 14 percent of EPA's core workforce of 14,700 as of the first quarter of fiscal 2025, based on data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The pool of eligible applicants, however, excludes many staffers working in the Office of Mission Support and several other branches. The agency, citing difficulties in coming up with an accurate headcount, did not have the actual number of employees allowed to take one of the 'early out' options.
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Also spurring some staffers to make the life-changing departure decision is the looming threat of involuntary downsizing through layoffs. Under the Trump administration's spending plan for fiscal 2026, EPA's budget would be slashed by more than half. The agency is also moving ahead with a restructuring likely to affect large swaths of its operations.
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