WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and 14 of their colleagues in pressing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to reinstate employees placed on administrative leave after they signed a “Declaration of Dissent” expressing concern with the agency’s direction under the Trump Administration. In their letter, the Senators stress that employees have the legal right to speak out on matters of public concern in their personal capacities under the First Amendment, as affirmed by the Supreme Court.
“We write to you with deep concerns regarding recent reporting that you placed more than 140 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees on administrative leave after they signed a ‘Declaration of Dissent’ on June 30, 2025. Federal employees are permitted to speak out on matters of public concern in their personal capacities, and even when they do so in dissent, the First Amendment protects their speech,” the Senators began. “We urge you to restore these employees to active service immediately and affirm your employees’ ability to express their viewpoints without fear of retaliation, because debate and dissent are valuable policymaking tools.”
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Pointing to legal precedent set by multiple Supreme Court rulings—and detailing the disciplined employees’ compliance with that precedent—the Senators wrote, “In a long series of cases dating back to the seminal Pickering decision, the Court has ‘recognized that speech by public employees on subject matter related to their employment holds special value precisely because those employees gain knowledge of matters of public concern through their employment.”
“Notably, the Declaration states on its face that it was written ‘in [employees]’ personal capacity, on our own time, and without Agency resources,’ reaffirming that they were exercising their First Amendment rights to comment on matters of public concern and outside of their official duties,” the Senators continued.
“We trust that once your investigation is complete, you will reinstate the EPA employee signatories to active service immediately and take steps to protect workers from retaliation when exercising their First Amendment rights,” the Senators concluded.
Along with Duckworth, Durbin and Van Hollen, the letter was also co-signed by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full text of the letter can be found below and on Senator Duckworth’s website:
Dear Administrator Zeldin:
We write to you with deep concerns regarding recent reporting that you placed more than 140 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees on administrative leave after they signed a “Declaration of Dissent” on June 30, 2025. Federal employees are permitted to speak out on matters of public concern in their personal capacities, and even when they do so in dissent, the First Amendment protects their speech. In fact, across the federal government, federal agencies have developed mechanisms to ensure federal workers can express alternative viewpoints without fear of reprisal, understanding that dissent improves policy outcomes, increases accountability, and improves morale; in that spirit, the EPA employees sought to raise issues of public concern to senior officials. We urge you to restore these employees to active service immediately and affirm your employees’ ability to express their viewpoints without fear of retaliation, because debate and dissent are valuable policymaking tools.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly “recognized the right of employees to speak on matters of public concern, typically matters concerning government policies that are of interest to the public at large, a subject on which public employees are uniquely qualified to comment.” In a long series of cases dating back to the seminal Pickering decision, the Court has “recognized that speech by public employees on subject matter related to their employment holds special value precisely because those employees gain knowledge of matters of public concern through their employment.” Here, the Declaration was published on a public-facing website and sent to lawmakers; it details matters of public concern including the perceived politicization of EPA and deterioration of public trust, perceived threats to objective and science-based decision-making, and apprehensions over EPA’s ability to serve communities which bear high pollution and climate change risk burdens. The signatories of the Declaration urge you to reconsider policy decisions that conflict with EPA’s core mission of “protect[ing] human health and the environment”—a mission you promised to uphold at your confirmation hearing and that is embodied in numerous statutes that Congress has directed EPA to implement. Notably, the Declaration states on its face that it was written “in [employees]’ personal capacity, on our own time, and without Agency resources,” reaffirming that they were exercising their First Amendment rights to comment on matters of public concern and outside of their official duties.
In announcing that you placed the employees on administrative leave and had begun an investigation, you indicated that the inquiry would conclude on July 17, 2025, and recent reporting indicates that the investigation has been extended through August 1, 2025. We trust that once your investigation is complete, you will reinstate the EPA employee signatories to active service immediately and take steps to protect workers from retaliation when exercising their First Amendment rights.
