House Republicans are giving Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt a week to schedule a briefing with senior congressional staff on the agency’s non-public plans for staff cuts and agency reorganization.
The GOP leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent Pruitt a two-page letter Tuesday requesting the briefing “to assist us in understanding more about EPA’s plans to reorganize the agency and how workforce analysis will factor into those plans.”
The letter was signed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., the panel’s environment chairman, and Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., the chairman of the committee’s oversight and investigations panel.
The lawmakers said an EPA workforce review has not been done for 20 years and is long overdue. Even the agency’s inspector general has been pressing for a workforce review since 2012, saying it is necessary to ensure workers are in the right place to fulfill the agency’s mission.
The inspector general’s past recommendations are being underscored given Pruitt’s and President Trump’s push to re-size the agency, the letter said. “While EPA’s plan for reorganization has not been released publicly, some EPA offices have already been combined with other offices and over 1,000 personnel have accepted buyouts from the agency.”
The congressional committee leaders praised Pruitt for analyzing the agency’s workforce, which has been a “long-standing problem.” The effort will ensure that the right number of qualified people are deployed across the agency to maximize their expertise, they said.
They want a thorough briefing by March 27.
