Trump and his environment-hating administration plan to propose a one-fourth cut to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget.
Trump officials will propose a $6.1 billion budget for the EPA next year, a $2 billion cut from current levels, according to a Politico report, citing sources. This would also lay off 20 percent of the agency’s staffers, according to reports. Staffing would fall from 15,000 workers to 12,000.
The White House declined to confirm the figures.
This comes as Trump plans to cut domestic spending by $54 billion dollars and increase military spending by that same amount.
The Trump administration has previously said it plans to target EPA climate programs that expanded under President Obama. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said this weekend that he would work to end several regulatory efforts that the agency has in the works.
If the EPA cuts are realized, the agency’s budget would be at its lowest level since the early 1990s, and its staffing levels would be lower than any time since the 1980s.
