The Trump administration terminated eight employees following their decision to sign a letter dissenting from current policies at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA stated that the agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career officials using their agency position to unlawfully undermine, sabotage, and undercut the will of the American public. The Washington Post reported the firings, which had hundreds of named and anonymous signers. The letter contained misleading information and represented a “small fraction of the thousands of hard-working, dedicated EPA employees.” The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a labor union for federal workers, said the EPA firings were illegal and an assault on labor and free speech rights. Justin Chen, president of AFGE Council 238, said the actions taken by management were baseless and meant to punish any modicum of dissent identifying potential harm to the American Public and violation of the Agency’s mission. Another AFGE president said the move was meant to intimidate fellow employees from speaking out against the current administration and agency heads. Six of the dismissed employees were on probationary status, and two others were career employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n