Story perspectives

EPA Research Office Shuttered, 1,500 Scientists Laid Off

4/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

The EPA’s Office of Research and Development is being dismantled after more than fifty years of federal health research.
Over 1,500 scientists have been laid off, reassigned, or forced into retirement, leaving only 124 researchers.
The remaining staff will be placed under direct control of President Donald Trump appointees or administrator Lee Zeldin, which critics say will reduce the agency’s ability to set new pollution and toxic-chemical limits.

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Story summary

The EPA’s Office of Research and Development is being dismantled after more than fifty years of federal health research.
Over 1,500 scientists have been laid off, reassigned, or forced into retirement, leaving only 124 researchers.
The remaining staff will be placed under direct control of President Donald Trump appointees or administrator Lee Zeldin, which critics say will reduce the agency’s ability to set new pollution and toxic-chemical limits.