EPA Reportedly Restricted Employees' Communications Outside the Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reportedly directed employees not to speak with outside entities. According to reporting from Government Executive, staff were informed that political leadership had directed that communications with external entities be paused, with limited exceptions. EPA denied that it had done so, but the directive was cited in a letter from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which expressed concern about the directive's impact on EPA's enforcement work.