According to documents obtained by E&E News and Grist, the Trump administration is planning to cancel FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants, a popular program that helped communities prepare for flooding, tornadoes, and other extreme weather. The report, which comes days after severe thunderstorms bringing tornadoes and flooding hit wide swaths of the U.S., outlines the administration’s latest attack on FEMA, which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem previously said she would "eliminate."

Trump signed an Executive Order ending collective bargaining for employees at multiple federal agencies, including the EPA, USDA, DOE and more. The step was seen as a way to ease efforts to implement debilitating cuts to staff and reduce the EPA’s ability to enforce health and environmental protections.

The EPA invited coal- and oil-fired power plants to apply for exemptions to limits on mercury and other toxic pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Mercury is an extremely dangerous pollutant that causes brain damage to babies and fetuses; in addition to mercury, pollution from power plants includes hazardous chemicals that can lead to cancer, or damage to the lungs, kidneys, nervous system and cardiovascular system.

During a Cabinet meeting, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the department would move to "eliminate" the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This announcement occurred in the wake of a hiring freeze at FEMA and a memo issued by President Trump calling on states and local governments to expand their role in disaster recovery.

U.S. intelligence agencies annual threat assessment omitted mention of climate change for the first time in more than a decade. Military and intelligence agencies were among the first executive branch bodies to formally recognize climate change as a "threat multiplier," in 2007, noting that extreme weather and climate impacts are destablizing and can exacerbate security risks.

Leaked documents describe plans to lay off as many as 1,155 scientists from labs across the country. These chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists are among the experts who monitor air and water quality, cleanup of toxic waste, and more.

Trump signed an executive order rescinding a Biden-era proclamation encouraging the development of renewable energy. Biden’s order under the Defense Production Act permitted the Department of Energy to direct funds to scale up domestic production of solar and other renewable technologies.

According to a leaked memo, the EPA’s compliance office has halted enforcement of pollution regulations on energy facilities and barred consideration of environmental justice concerns. The memo states: "Enforcement and compliance assurance actions shall not shut down any stage of energy production (from exploration to distribution) or power generation absent an imminent and substantial threat to human health or an express statutory or regulatory requirement to the contrary.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to dismantle federal air quality and carbon pollution regulations, identifying 31 actions ranging from from soot standards and power plant pollution rules to the endangerment finding – the scientific and legal underpinning of the Clean Air Act.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin ordered the closure of environmental justice offices at the agency’s headquarters and at all 10 regional offices and eliminate all related staff positions "immediately." The reversal comes just days after the EPA reinstated environmental justice and civil rights employees put on leave in early February.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the cancellation of 400 environmental justice-related grants, in violation of a court order barring the Trump administration from freezing "equity-based" grants and contracts.

Speaking at the CERAWeek conference, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Trump administration sees climate change as “a side effect of building the modern world,” and pledged to “end the Biden administration’s irrational, quasi-religious policies on climate change."

According to media reports, the Trump administration informed officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that it would be canceling leases on buildings that house critical forecasting services. On the lease-cancelation list is the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction in College Park, MD, which provides the public with weather, climate, and water forecasts.

On Thursday, February 27, about 800 employees at NOAA, the agency responsible for the nation’s bedrock weather, climate, fisheries, and marine research, were fired in the latest round of Trump administration-led layoffs. The layoffs could jeopardize NOAA’s ability to provide life-saving severe weather forecasts, long-term climate monitoring, deep-sea research and fisheries management, and other essential research and policy.

According to media reports, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has put the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) director on administrative leave. The GGRF is a $27 billion federal financing program that addresses the climate crisis and is injecting billions of dollars in local economic development projects to lower energy prices and reduce pollution especially in the rural, urban, and Indigenous communities most impacted by climate change and frequently left behind by mainstream finance.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency memo listed 10 climate-related words and phrases, including "changing climate," “climate resilience,” and “net zero," to be removed from FEMA documents. The memo comes after USDA workers were ordered to scrub mentions of climate change from websites.

Trump issues executive order directing agencies to work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to make recommendations that will accelerate Trump’s efforts to dismantle regulations across the federal government as part of his 10 out, 1 in policy. Among the protections likely to be in DOGE’s crosshairs are those that keep polluters from ignoring environmental laws and protect clean air and water.

The Trump administration has moved to rescind the Council on Environmental Quality’s role in crafting and implementing environmental regulations, revoking all CEQ orders since 1977 that shape how federal agencies comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which requires the government to consider and disclose environmental impacts of its actions.

After Trump’s "Unleashing American Energy" executive order, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has told the White House he would recommend rescinding the bedrock justification defining six climate pollutants – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride – as air pollution to be regulated by the Clean Air Act.

Trump signed an executive order stripping independent regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of their independence, moving them to submit proposed rules and final regulations for review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and granting the attorney general exclusive authority over legal interpretations of rules. The order is likely to be challenged as Congress created these agencies specifically to be insulated from White House interference.

DOE Secretary Wright issued an export authorization for the Commonwealth LNG project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, despite a 2024 DOE report finding that unfettered LNG exports increase energy bills and climate pollution.

An executive order forming a council of top government officials to be chaired by two staunch fossil fuel executives proponents: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a noted clean energy skeptic, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, formerly a fracking executive. While its stated goal is to "expand all forms of reliable and affordable" energy, it notably does not name two of the most abundant, affordable, and fastest growing forms of energy – wind and solar – on the lengthy and fossil-fuel dominated list of energy sources the council is instructed to promote.

The Trump administration’s relentless assault on science and career expertise at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continued today with the firing of almost 400 staff who had ‘probationary’ status.

Trump nominated fossil fuel industry insiders for positions overseeing energy development and land use. Kathleen Sgamma, the nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management leads a Denver-based oil and gas industry trade group that has strongly opposed regulations on oil and gas on public lands. Jessica Kramer, tapped to lead the EPA’s Office of Water, previously represented major energy companies, mining companies, and water trade group working against regulations under the Clean Water Act. Audrey Robertson, Trump’s pick to oversee energy efficiency and renewable energy at DOE, is the co-founder of an oil producer and served on the board of Liberty Energy, founded by Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

The acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission paused the government’s legal defense of a rule requiring companies to identify the impact of their business on climate in regulatory findings. The rule was challenged in court by 19 Republican state attorneys general and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s Liberty Energy, among others.

A Transportation Department memo ordered the suspension of $5 billion in federal funding, authorized by Congress under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, for states to build electric vehicle chargers.

The Army Corps of Engineers singled out 168 projects – those that focused on renewable energy projects – out of about 11,000 pending permits for projects on private land. Though the hold was lifted, it was not immediately clear if permitting had resumed.

Energy Secretary Wright ordered a review of appliance standards following Trump’s Day One order attacking rules improving the efficiency of household appliances such as toilets, showerheads, and lightbulbs as part of a secretarial order intended to increase the extraction and use of fossil fuels.

After Trump’s "Unleashing American Energy" executive order, Interior Secretary Burgum ordered the reinstatement of fossil fuel leases, opened more land for drilling, and issued orders weakening protections of public lands, national monuments and endangered species, and overturned advanced clean energy and climate mitigation strategies.

More than a thousand Environmental Protection Agency employees received a letter saying they could be fired at any time. These EPA staff work on climate change, air pollution, and environmental enforcement programs, many of which were created by Congress in the past two years, to help clean up toxic sites, replace lead pipes, and fund clean energy projects – and will likely have an outsize impact on employees working on environmental justice programs.

The order requires that when an agency finalizes a new regulation or guidance they identify 10 existing rules to be cut. This gift for polluters threatens public safety, health, and the environment.

Trump imposed tariffs on several key trading partners, with severe implications for the supply chains for wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles. Though the some of the tariffs, on Canada and Mexico, were delayed one month, the unstable trade environment could nevertheless hurt the economy and U.S. workers.

Mentions of climate change have been removed from federal websites such the Department of Agriculture,
which includes the Forest Service and climate-smart agriculture programs, and the EPA. The move appears to be part of a broader effort to remove content and pages on issues such as climate change, gun violence, accessibility, reproductive rights, and more.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issues illegal freeze of all federal loans and grants, risking programs providing heating assistance to low-income families, creating clean energy jobs, aiding climate disaster victims, and more. The order was rescinded after significant public outcry.

The EPA halted $7 billion in contractually obligated grants for Solar For All, an Inflation Reduction Act program that delivers clean energy and lower prices to vulnerable communities

Acting EPA administrator James Payne dismisses members of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and Science Advisory Board, which provides independent expertise to the agency on air quality standards and sources of air pollution.

Reclassifies tens of thousands of federal employees as at-will workers, making them easier to fire. This action politicizes essential government functions and the federal workers who support them, sidelining or silencing experts in charge of making decisions that impact the health of communities across the nation.

Reopens sensitive federal lands and waters in Alaska to drilling.

Withdraws wind energy leasing from U.S. waters and federal lands.

Ends all programs of the American Climate Corps, which created thousands of jobs combatting climate change and protecting and restoring public lands.

Reopens U.S. coastlines to offshore drilling.

Rescinds order requiring White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to assess environmental and community impacts and allow community input into federal infrastructure projects.

Reverses U.S. commitment to fight climate change and its impacts, and protect overburdened communities.

Authorizes federal government to expedite permitting and approval of fossil fuel, infrastructure, and mining projects and circumvent Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act requirements.

Freezes in-progress climate, clean air and consumer protections.