On February 14, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) and Congresswoman Julie Johnson (TX-32) led 12 of their Democratic colleagues in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 6 in a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin urging a reconsideration of plans to terminate EPA employees that are critical to addressing environmental concerns that affect children, maintaining a reliable permitting process, and more.  These employees conduct vital, nonpartisan work that communities in Texas and across the country rely on every day.

“As representatives from states served by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6, we write to express our profound concern about the potential immediate termination of more than 1,100 EPA employees, many based in our districts, as well as the impact this could have on public health and our environment,” the members wrote.

“Reports indicate that EPA staff members have received emails informing them of possible immediate dismissal because of their probationary status related to their introductory period in their position,” the members continued.  “The probationary staff includes grant managers, inspectors, enforcement officers, attorneys, on-scene coordinators, permit reviewers, and emergency response personnel. We are deeply concerned about the negative impacts such terminations—done across the board without consideration for positional need or programmatic impact—would have on the agency’s ability to protect public health and the environment in Region 6 and across the nation.”

EPA terminated 388 employees across the country on February 14.  

Congressmembers Al Green (TX-09), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Sylvester Turner (TX-18), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Troy Carter (LA-02), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), and Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03) joined Congresswoman Fletcher and Congresswoman Johnson in this letter request. 

To read the full text of the letter, click here.