White House proposes massive EPA budget cuts

A day after reportedly proposing massive cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency's budget, the White House is expected to move forward Tuesday with an executive order undoing the Obama-era rule Waters of the United States. Though Trump's order rolling back the rule protecting America's major waterways would have "almost no immediate legal effect," The New York Times noted it will "essentially give Mr. Trump a megaphone to direct his Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, to begin the process of rewriting" the 2015 regulation.
On Monday, the White House sent another message to Pruitt with a proposal that reportedly suggested cutting a quarter of the EPA's budget and "eventually eliminating 1 in 5 of the agency's workers," Politico reported. The proposed cuts, which one person told Politico were "far more severe than anyone imagined," would lower the EPA's budget to its lowest level since 1991, and leave the EPA the most sparsely staffed it's been since the mid-1980s. The White House did not confirm the figures.
Next up, the White House is reportedly expected to sign an executive order to begin undoing former President Barack Obama's climate-change regulation curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami