Democrats vowed to fight against Donald Trump's attempt to greatly scale back the Environmental Protection Agency after the president signed an executive order requesting that the EPA re-evaluate regulations imposed by the Obama administration, The Hill reported on Wednesday.
It was Trump's first practical assault on the EPA after he said during the presidential campaign that the agency was bloated, overreaching and harmful to jobs in the United States.
CNN reported that Trump is considering slashing the EPA's budget by as much as 25 percent, which some say would weaken the agency to the point where it could only carry out its most basic functions.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, shared that view, telling The Hill that Trump's actions will lead to an EPA that "can't carry out the legal mandate… If this budget is enacted the way he wants it, he's effectively dealt a very significant death blow to the EPA."
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz said that Trump's plan is "radical, it's extreme and we will fight it" when the budget proposal comes before the committees.
But Republicans said the president's plan is just what is needed.
"President Trump has come into office on a campaign promise of controlling the cost and size of government, and the fact that he's taking a bullseye on the EPA, that's good news," said Rep. Evan Jenkins, who is a member of the Appropriations Committee panel that determines the EPA's budget.
Rep. Hal Rogers, a former chairman of the Appropriations Committee, added: "They've overreached their authority, as the courts have held, and the regulations they've imposed on American business have killed thousands of jobs, and they need to be reined back in severely."
However, some Republicans are not keen on slashing the EPA budget, especially since the agency has already had significant spending cuts over the last six years, and want to know the details of any further reductions, according to The Hill.
In fact, although many Republicans have favored trimming the agency's budget, 56 GOP representatives last year voted against a floor amendment to cut the EPA by 17 percent.
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