'Stuck out': EPA staffers alarmed as Trump admin 'singled out' cases to kill

Stunned staffers told CNN the directive came verbally in recent months as EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and other top officials have made clear, implicitly and explicitly, that President Donald Trump wants to reduce what he sees as "burdensome" oil and gas industry regulations and increase production.

"The alarm bells began ringing just weeks into the new Trump administration, sources said, when they were asked to detail cases they were working on for review by upper management," CNN reported. "That was not particularly unusual — but they were also asked to single out any violations involving fossil fuel."

One official told the network that managers notified enforcement officials that energy sector cases, especially in the Midwest, were being handled differently and would not likely be advanced.

“It stuck out to me,” the source said. “I was concerned if any of those cases would be resumed again.”

The sources said officers were stopped from issuing notices of violation or sending information requests to suspected polluters, and they said the Department of Justice’s environmental division has pulled back its assistance as buyouts and layoffs thinned its ranks.

“The environmental enforcement section of DOJ has been decimated,” said one EPA employee familiar with the matter. “There’s no one to do the work.”

The dynamics between the industry and the EPA have changed dramatically since Trump returned to office, and several sources say they're unable to negotiate penalties or terms for correcting oil and gas violations.

“The companies are scoffing at the cops,” said one EPA enforcement staffer. “EPA enforcement doesn’t have the leverage they once had.”

The oil and gas industry was Trump’s fourth-biggest source of campaign donations in 2024, up six places from the 2020 election cycle.

He received $14.1 million from the oil and gas industry last year, far less than the $1 billion he solicited from oil executives in exchange for lifting environmental rules.