EPA ‘in Tears’ After Trump Election

Some employees are taking days off. Some are seeking counseling. Some are planning an early retirement. And others are pretending it didn’t happen.

“If you look at the seven stages of grief, I’m still in denial. I will not look at the news. I will not read the news,” said an EPA career employee.

Another EPA staffer said, “I don’t actually know anybody here that was supporting Trump.” That person said people are “worried” that their work over the last eight years will be unraveled. “It’s always a time of uncertainty” when a new administration comes in, the employee said, and there were fears when the George W. Bush administration came into office, too. But “people are more worried this time,” the person added.

Silvia Saracco, head of a union chapter that represents EPA employees in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, said, “There is a lot of angst out there, nervousness.”

Some DOE employees are feeling glum, too.

“I think it’s a sadness and a worry about just how far someone will go, especially when you never believe anything he says,” said one longtime Energy Department employee. “Many of us have worked in both the Bush and the Obama administrations, and I don’t think that we feel like it will be like just going back to Bush again.”

The DOE employee added, “We know that now more than ever, it is important to do whatever we can to do a good job in the areas that we care about. … What we can do is not lose sight of whatever ideals brought us to this work in the first place.”

One Fish and Wildlife Service employee witnessed “business as usual” after the election, although, “obviously, there was some surprise.”

Most federal employees “will work for whomever is elected,” that person said. “That’s just part of what I’ve always believed, that we should not be extremely emotional about it, certainly not in our public life.”

There’s been speculation that many of Trump’s critics in the federal workforce might opt to leave or retire early.

“If [Trump] starts doing rotten things, then people will say, ‘Enough of this crap,'” said O’Grady. “You might see retirements from people who say, ‘Why bother working there anyway?'”

Saracco worked at EPA during the Reagan administration. “There was a big exodus” then, she said.

Several also noted that EPA has an aging workforce like other government agencies — about 31 percent of the federal workforce is eligible to retire. In addition, according to this year’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, 3.57 percent of EPA employees plan to retire within the year, while another 10.76 percent plan to retire within one to three years.

“Whenever there is a change of administration, career officials that are retirement eligible take stock and decide what to do next, even if you agree with the party coming in,” said Joe Edgell, senior vice president of National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 280, which also represents EPA employees.

“Do I think a lot of people are going to retire? Well, yeah,” Edgell said. “Could it be higher than normal? We have to see what happens.”

There you have it! Trump might not even have to close it down, it looks like they’re going to do that themselves. After all, that’s the liberal model, right? If at first you don’t succeed, then lie. If that doesn’t work resort to violence. And if that doesn’t work, give up!

Source: eenews.net