Under Administrator Zeldin, the EPA has begun incinerating many of the environmental and health protections this agency has provided for decades. Since January, the Zeldin-led EPA has:
- pledged to unshackle industries from environmental rules and oversight while lowering costs for polluters;
- proposed a 54.4% cut in EPA’s budget for fiscal year 2026 that surpasses the high-water mark set by the first Trump administration as the most ambitious cut ever proposed for this agency by the Executive Branch; and
- pre-emptively made drastic cuts without consulting Congress.
Building and expanding upon tactics of earlier EPA-hostile Administrations, the Zeldin-led EPA has launched the most damaging assault in the agency’s 54-year history. The report Burning Down the EPA: documenting the second Trump administration’s historic assault breaks down the tactics employed under Zeldin’s leadership and puts them in their historic context.
Burning Down the EPAAuthor(s): Chris Sellers, Scout Blum, Ellen Kohl, Marianne Sullivan, Leif Fredrickson, Shannan Lenke Stoll, Michael Legefeld, Kim Barrett, Anna Levy, and EDGI
Publication Date: September 3, 2025
Preferred Citation: “Burning Down the EPA: Documenting the Second Trump Administration’s Historic Assault”, (Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, September 3, 2025)
CONTACT: Report authors are available for interview. To set up media interviews or for other inquiries, please contact Shannan Lenke Stoll at shannanlenke.stoll@envirodatagov.org.