Scripps News spoke with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin Wednesday, following the first official meeting of President Donald Trump's cabinet in Washington.
The EPA has been a target of billionaire Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which announced this week it had worked with the EPA to cancel more than $60 billion in grant spending at the agency.
"The work with DOGE has been primarily on helping to identify grants that can be canceled, media subscriptions as well, where the agency was overpaying for certain subscriptions that weren't being utilized to the extent that the agency was paying," Zeldin said Wednesday. "A lot of it has been related to grants. We've canceled around 30 grants working with DOGE, totaling over $120 million of savings, which is a lot of money grants tied to DEI and environmental justice."
Zeldin said more than 1,000 workers have left their jobs at the agency, through different avenues.
"There are people who took the Fork in the Road or VERA, the voluntary early retirement, there were probationary employees. As we return to work, some people may decide that they don't want to return to work, but that number all ended up a little over 1,000 as of right now."
"We're not going to lose sight of our core mission of protecting human health and the environment," Zeldin said, highlighting work the EPA has done in the first month of the Trump administration to respond to ongoing environmental projects in Flint, Michigan, western North Carolina, East Palestine, Ohio and the scene of this year's wildfires in Los Angeles.
"President Trump came in. He gave us a 30 day deadline to complete our phase one hazardous material removal work in Los Angeles, which was the biggest wildfire cleanup in the history of the agency. We got it done in less than 30 days."
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Zeldin, who was confirmed 56-42 to head the EPA at the end of January, has indicated he intends to focus on U.S. energy and manufacturing concerns.
President Trump has promised to reverse the environmental policies of the Biden administration, including power plant and automotive emissions regulations and electric vehicle incentives. The day he took office, President Trump signed executive orders directing the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and expand oil and gas drilling.
