EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told Newsmax that operational streamlining at the agency is saving American taxpayers $750 million a year.
Zeldin told America Right Now that the spending reduction is based on cutting roughly 3,500 unnecessary jobs at the EPA.
“When we came in at the beginning of the year, EPA was a little over 16,000 total staff. With reorganization, we are getting down to 12 and a half thousand, which is about a $750 million a year annual savings," he said.
Zeldin said the ongoing government shutdown means the agency is spending less, but that’s independent of the reorganization.
“Just this past Monday, we had to furlough approximately 4,000 employees. So that was the largest furlough so far," he said.
But he expects those agency employees will be back on the job when the shutdown issues are resolved.
The EPA, he said, is on a mission to carry out its responsibilities without wasting taxpayer dollars. “There's a lot we've been doing all year long to right-size this agency," he said.
Zeldin emphasized the job needs to be done, not overdone.
“We do not want one more or one less [employee] than what we need. To be able to fulfill our statutory obligations and power the great American comeback, fulfilling President Trump's priorities," he said.
Zeldin accused the former administration of President Joe Biden of staggering financial mismanagement.
“What we found coming in was that there were tens of billions of dollars going out the door. In a way, the EPA didn't even know how to spend it. And they were giving money towards favored parties," he said.
Zeldin said so far, his management team at EPA has cut $29 billion from grant funding that he said never should have been approved to begin with.
“We believe that there should be a zero-tolerance policy for any waste and abuse," he said.
Zeldin also said the EPA is working hard to eliminate government red tape from interfering with critical energy production projects throughout the country, which will play a key role in reducing the nation’s dependence on unreliable foreign energy suppliers.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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