The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has placed 139 employees on administrative leave this week after they publicly criticized the Trump administration’s regulatory rollbacks and staffing cuts in an open letter to Administrator Lee Zeldin.

The employees, who signed the letter using their official titles, are now under investigation as part of what Administrator Lee Zeldin called a “zero tolerance” policy against internal sabotage. The mass leave marks one of the largest coordinated acts of dissent and disciplinary responses at the EPA in years, raising concerns about disruption to the agency’s operations. 7/10/2025