EPA Chief Admits That Brain Drain Puts Agency at 'Critical Juncture'

Government Executive: President Trump’s proposal for a 31 percent cut in the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget is justified as part of a “bold agenda” that combines public health with economic growth, EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler told House appropriators on Tuesday.

But when grilled on the agency’s failure to fill vacancies left by a “recent exodus” of experts and enforcement personnel, Wheeler said, “We are trying to hire up but are losing people at a very fast rate. We’re hiring them as fast as we’re losing them.”

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