An EPA employee spoke out during an award ceremony.

An EPA employee spoke out during an award ceremony. By Kristi Blokhin / Shutterstock.com

Career Feds Publicly Defy Trump Administration Over Climate Change

One employee resigns while another challenges an agency chief.

Two federal employees this week engaged in high-profile acts of protest against the Trump administration’s handling of climate change, choosing to shine a light on an issue that has driven a wedge between the president and the scientific community over the last few years. 

At the State Department, a senior analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research has submitted his resignation, according to multiple media reports, after the administration placed certain restraints on testimony he was set to deliver to Congress. At the Environmental Protection Agency, a scientist chose to confront the administrator directly to air her grievances about climate policy and an ongoing labor dispute. 

Rod Schoonover, the State analyst, testified to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last month about the impact of climate change on national security. White House officials prohibited Schoonover from submitting written testimony with scientific evidence pointing to the dangers of climate change, according to multiple reports and Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who chairs the intelligence panel, previously raised concerns about the administration’s interference in Schoonover’s testimony through a letter to the head of the analyst’s bureau at State. 

The committee has “deep concern that officials within the Executive Office of the President sought to suppress for political reasons Dr. Schoonover’s and State INR’s objective analysis about this urgent national security issue,” Schiff wrote. He added in a statement that intelligence officials must “tell truth to power, irrespective of prevailing political winds” and called for an investigation into the administration’s alleged interference. 

The EPA, meanwhile, hosted a National Honor Awards ceremony at its Washington, D.C., headquarters on Tuesday, after Administrator Andrew Wheeler pushed to bring back the recognition event for the first time in more than a decade. Loreen Targos, a physical scientist based in Chicago, attended the event as a silver medalist with the Zephyr Lakes Remediation Team. She and her colleagues received the award for “exemplary problem solving” and working “under extreme pressure and a tight timeline.” 

When Targos took the stage, she unveiled a large poster calling for a “fair contract” to enable employees to “address public health and climate change.” In a video posted of the incident, she can be heard shouting at Wheeler, who stood next to her on stage, about both the contract and climate issues. 

AFGE

Targos told Government Executive she initially considered not attending the event because she “couldn’t stomach shaking hands with a member of this administration,” but ultimately decided to attend and speak out because she is a naturally “defiant person.” A colleague on her team took a different approach, Targos said, successfully petitioning EPA to have his name removed from the award altogether. Targos spoke with an EPA attorney she got in touch with through her union—the American Federation of Government Employees—who advised her not to swear or malign the administration. 

She got nervous during her address, but managed to hit her key notes with Wheeler: resolve a labor dispute (the agency has unilaterally imposed a new contract on AFGE after faulting the union for failing to come to the bargaining table due to a disagreement over what should be subject to negotiation) and allow employees to fight climate change. Wheeler briefly responded, Targos said, to say the agency has tried to work with AFGE without success—a characterization the union disputes. 

Aside from a few colleagues who reached out to congratulate her, Targos said she has not heard from her supervisor or anyone else at EPA. She said she generally gets along well with her bosses, but conceded she is “a little nervous” and does not know what will happen. 

An EPA spokesperson declined to answer whether Targos could face disciplinary action. 

“Administrator Wheeler was proud to host the National Honor Awards ceremony for the first time in 10 years and recognize the outstanding achievements of more than 700 EPA staff,” the spokesperson said. 

Targos and Schoonover’s actions follow a long series of dust ups between the scientific community and the Trump administration, with federal employees and watchdog groups suggesting political concerns have led to improper interference and undue influence in the work of civil servants. Employees at agencies like EPA, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have told Government Executive they are facing unprecedented interference from political leadership, including rollbacks of previous work and meddling in research. Scientists reported being left out of key meetings, feeling fearful in their offices and a general sense of low morale. Inquiries from employees raising concerns to EPA’s Scientific Integrity office have spiked since Trump took office. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.