US President Donald Trump's administration has halted all pending environmental litigation and reassigned four career Justice Department attorneys focused on environmental issues, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The decision to move the four officials, who are not political appointees, from overseeing the natural resources, environmental enforcement, appellate and environmental crimes sections is the latest in a string of similar actions as the new Republican administration shakes up the federal government's 2.2 million-strong workforce.
The department's Environment and Natural Resources Division is responsible for bringing criminal and civil cases related to air and water pollution, animal welfare and public safety, as well as defending in court government agencies such as the Department of the Interior and the Department of Energy.
The four section chiefs were told in an email late Thursday they have 15 days to accept the new assignment to a newly created Sanctuary City Working Group or face adverse consequences, the sources told Reuters.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
The sources were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The sources said the reassigned officials have not been provided further details about their new assignments.
Trump has long dismissed climate change as a "hoax," vowed to cut regulation and in his first day in office withdrew the US from the Paris climate treaty.
Four other Justice Department employees who worked on environmental justice issues were also placed on paid administrative leave this week, four sources familiar with the matter said.
The four officials placed on leave include Cynthia Ferguson, who led the environmental justice office, and Lana Pettus, a prosecutor who worked on some high-profile cases such as the 2015 criminal Clean Water Act case against Duke Energy.
The Trump administration this week ordered anyone in the federal government on diversity, equity and inclusion issues to be placed on leave, and also called for the elimination of any office or position involving environmental justice.
Ferguson and Pettus could not be immediately reached for comment.
The order to freeze all pending environmental regulation was issued to employees on Thursday morning, the sources said.
It is similar to another memo issued earlier in the week to the Civil Rights Division which also halted all litigation, including efforts to finalize court-approved settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville to address civil rights abuses by the police.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone and Marguerita Choy)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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