FERC vacancy problem goes from bad to worse: Ebell Pushed ‘Aspirational’ EPA Cuts

Politico’s Morning Energy discusses staff cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency with Myron Ebell. 

A goal from a former Trump EPA transition team member to slash EPA staff by two-thirds is “aspirational” rather than a firm plan, Pro’s Alex Guillén reports. “I don’t know how things will shake out,” the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Myron Ebell, a longtime critic of the agency, said in an interview. About half of EPA’s budget — the portion that goes to states to implement environmental programs or other grants — is probably relatively safe, because it enjoys bipartisan support and has the backing of the new president, Ebell said. “It seems to me, when you’re up against an entrenched bureaucracy who have entrenched supporters in the congressional appropriations process, you have to negotiate in the way that President Trump negotiated in his business career: You ask for everything and you settle for something less,” he said.

Read the full article at Politico’s Morning Energy.