Details of the Massive Exodus at the U.S. EPA

Lisa Friedman, Marina Affo, and Derek Kravitz report on the massive exodus of employees from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Donald Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration.

The departures, some 200 of which were scientists, reflect poor morale at the agency, according to the article. The situation is likely to worsen "following revelations that Republican campaign operatives were using the Freedom of Information Act to request copies of emails from EPA officials suspected of opposing Trump and his agenda."

The reporting by Friedman, Affo, and Kravitz provide more detail and depth to a trend first revealed earlier in 2017, when the number of employees leaving the U.S. EPA was at around 400, after the Trump Administration offered buyouts to 1,200 employees. The effect of these departures could be numerous and painful for progressive causes. A similar narrative of systematic deconstruction under the Trump Administration's leadership is also taking place at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.