The Trump administration has placed on leave roughly 140 staffers at the Environmental Protection Agency who signed a letter of dissent protesting the agency’s current direction and policies, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post. Nearly 300 EPA workers had signed the letter, sent Monday to Administrator Lee Zeldin, which said President Donald Trump’s changes to the agency “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.” More than 170 of the signatories chose to be named — and, on Thursday, some began receiving notifications they had been placed on leave.

“This is a notice that I am placing you in a temporary, non-duty, paid status (administrative leave) through July 17, 2025, pending an administrative investigation,” read one message seen by The Post.

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Asked for comment Thursday, an EPA official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters confirmed that 144 employees had received emails in connection with the letter and at least 139 had been placed on leave — and are now facing investigations — because they had signed using their official job titles. The letter, the EPA official said, misrepresented the agency and its work.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the administration’s agenda as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch said in an email.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Two people familiar with the matter said some EPA employees were physically escorted out of their workplaces Thursday after getting a leave notice. The EPA did not answer a question asking how many staffers were escorted outside.

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The developments at the EPA this week mark the latest effort by the Trump administration to crack down on federal workers deemed disloyal. The Defense Department has fired suspected leakers, while the Department of Homeland Security has pursued polygraph testing of some employees to determine if they are giving out unauthorized information. The measures have fostered an environment in which many employees — career federal workers and political appointees alike — are scared to put anything in writing, The Post reported.

Colette Delawalla, the executive director of Stand up for Science, a nonprofit research advocacy group that published the employees’ letter, noted in a text message that Zeldin has not formally responded.

“Though we are still gathering information on this situation, we condemn these actions,” Delawalla wrote. “These are dedicated civil servants whose career goal is to keep Americans safe.”

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In their letter Monday, the EPA workers had taken issue with the agency’s direction under the second Trump administration on five fronts, including promoting misinformation and partisan rhetoric, “ignoring scientific consensus to benefit polluters” and dismantling the agency’s research and development arm. The letter writers also noted than roughly 100 signatories were signing anonymously, for fear of retaliation, and generally lamented a “culture of fear” growing at the agency.

“We are civil servants who are dedicated to responsibly managing public resources to drive innovative, high-impact research to create and implement the country’s environmental regulations and solve environmental challenges,” the letter writers wrote. “We want to work together, not to power the ‘Great American Comeback,’ but to launch America into a safer, healthier, and thriving future.”

The notice sent Thursday placing staffers on leave specified they must provide a personal email address and phone number so they could be contacted during the investigation into their conduct.

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During the paid leave, the notice continued, staffers are prohibited from using government equipment, sending email from government accounts or contacting current EPA employees for information or access to buildings.

One of the employees placed on leave, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of further reprisal, wrote in a text that signing the letter was worth the punishment.

“I took the risk knowing what was up,” the employee wrote. “I’ll say it before and now it rings even more true … if this is the EPA they want me to work for then I don’t want to work for the EPA.”

Tim Whitehouse, the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which has previously represented EPA and other federal employees, said that federal employees have First Amendment rights, which should protect speech that doesn’t harm the agencies they work for.