The Environmental Protection Agency will reduce its budget by 65% this year, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said.
Mr. Zeldin said the goal is to stop wasting “any of your hard-earned tax dollars.”
The EPA spent $63 billion last year, and Mr. Zeldin said the agency can operate at 35% of that cost. “We don’t want the extra money and we don’t need it,” Mr. Zeldin, a Republican who served in the House from New York, posted on X.
The move aligns with President Trump’s goal of drastically shrinking the size and cost of the federal government. Mr. Zeldin said staffing reductions at the agency have already saved $300 million and more cuts are coming.
The EPA was established in 1970 with the primary mission of ensuring clean air, land and water. Under President Biden, the agency focused on implementing regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and shifting to renewable energy sources.
The EPA determined the regulations were needed to stave off climate change that some scientists believe is threatening the future of the planet.
Under Mr. Trump, who believes green energy policies are a scam, the EPA is reversing course.
Mr. Zeldin is working to claw back $20 million in green energy grants the Biden administration designated for nongovernmental organizations, including left-wing groups, to administer environmental justice and green energy initiatives.
He is also canceling more than 400 grants designated for diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental justice, which will save the agency $2 billion.
“We won’t be funding left-wing, ideological pet projects like the past administration,” Mr. Zeldin said.
The EPA will pull the plug on the National Environmental Museum and Education Center, located just blocks from the White House.
The museum, according to the EPA, “was developed to inspire and educate the public about the ongoing stewardship of the nation’s air, water, land, and public health.”
But Mr. Zeldin said the museum has cost the EPA millions of dollars even though it is the size of a one-bedroom apartment. It was set up, he said, “to praise environmental justice.”
The displays exclude any references to EPA’s operations during Mr. Trump’s first term.
The EPA is on a larger quest to retrieve the $20 billion that Mr. Biden shifted to Citibank in the final days of his presidency.
The money was intended for nongovernmental organizations to administer climate justice initiatives. More than $3 billion has already been disbursed to some of those organizations, an EPA official said.
Mr. Zeldin said other savings will come from ending leases on EPA buildings.
The agency spends $100 million annually on rent for buildings “that are overwhelmingly empty,” he said.
Mr. Zeldin also canceled $1 million in media subscriptions and $3 million in travel deemed unnecessary.
More cuts are coming.
“We will continue to pursue process efficiencies, improve technology, including artificial intelligence integration, reconsider grant funding, and where necessary, reduce staff,” Mr. Zeldin said.
