They say that personnel is policy, and President Joe Biden is making sure that his staff is on the same page with him as he aggressively reverses Donald Trump’s agenda.
A rolling purge of Trump holdovers in the Biden administration came for dozens of scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, the Washington Examiner reported.
Biden fires Trump appointees
Biden has often contrasted himself with Trump, framing his own approach to immigration as more humane and making much of bringing “science” back to the White House.
The Biden administration framed the EPA firings as part of an effort to reset environmental policy on a scientific basis, after it had been allegedly undermined by Trump, who was often accused by critics of spoiling the environment and favoring industry.
According to The Hill, some 40 science advisers were removed from the Science Advisory Board and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee in what administrator Michael Regan called a “reset” to bring back “scientific integrity.”
“Resetting these two scientific advisory committees will ensure the agency receives the best possible scientific insight to support our work to protect human health and the environment,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement, according to the Washington Examiner.
“Today we return to a time-tested, fair, and transparent process for soliciting membership to these critically important advisory bodies,” he added.
Purge-happy Biden gets to work
While framing the purge as benign, Regan was accused by critics of being heavy-handed.
“Michael Regan’s purge of EPA scientists and policy experts who may offer critical thinking in response to the Biden agenda is a complete politicization of science within our federal government,” said James Taylor, of the conservative Heartland Institute, according to The Washington Times.
While presenting himself as a bipartisan figure, Biden has sent shockwaves through Washington with a take-no-prisoners style, even recently threatening to end the filibuster to pass his agenda, NBC News reported.
As Biden confronts a border crisis that critics call self-inflicted, he paired the rapid reversal of Trump’s strict immigration policies with another purge at the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Advisory Council. Ken Cuccinelli, who served in Trump’s DHS, said the move was typical of Biden’s “Stalinistic” presidency.
“This is a part of a broader pattern and practice by Biden’s administration of being the most Stalinistic in my adult lifetime,” he said, according to Fox News.
The post Biden continues purge of Trump officials by scrapping dozens of EPA holdovers first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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