Advocacy Group Sues Trump Over Orders Gutting Federal Agencies and Rolling Back Environmental Protections
Today the national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch sued the Trump administration, demanding action on three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to Trump’s executive orders calling for massive slashing of staff and resources, and revocation of regulations needed to protect public health and the environment, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to regulate greenhouse gases as required by the Clean Air Act. The FOIA requests were filed more than 75 days ago and no responses of any kind from the administration have yet been received. Today’s complaint against the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The FOIA requests in question specifically seek information concerning Executive Orders 14210, 14154 and 14219. These orders direct all federal agencies to provide OMB with plans for massive restructuring, direct all agencies to provide OMB with lists of critical environmental and health protections they plan to withdraw, and direct EPA to provide OMB with recommendations related to its longstanding finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and must be subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act. This “endangerment finding” underpins all of EPA’s authority to take action on climate change.
"The Freedom of Information Act exists because the government must be accountable to the people it serves. Trump must not be allowed to flout the law and dismantle the agencies and regulations meant to protect public health and the environment in a black box – particularly when the health and safety of millions of people are at stake. We demand the transparency afforded to us by federal law, and we're not backing down until we have answers,” said Dani Replogle, staff attorney at Food & Water Watch.
Food & Water Watch is represented in this matter by the public interest law firm Eubanks & Associates, PLLC, as well as Ms. Replogle.