Dozens of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workers marched through downtown Denver on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s attempts to rapidly shrink the federal agency.
“We don’t exactly know what’s going to go down with our jobs or our funding, but we’re not going to wait for the cuts to happen to say: you’re going to miss us when we’re gone,” said Miles Batson, an EPA employee who led the rally in his role as vice president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 3607, a labor union representing federal employees.
After short speeches from union leaders and environmental justice advocates, the crowd walked around Union Station before returning to the EPA Region 8 headquarters in Denver’s lower downtown neighborhood. Demonstrators carried signs reading “public service is a badge of honor” and “science keeps us safe.” Many chanted “let us work” as buses and cars honked in solidarity.
The rally was part of a national day of action organized by unions representing EPA employees.
It comes amid far-reaching job cuts across federal agencies led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Those layoffs have had an especially acute impact in Colorado, which is home to roughly 57,000 federal workers, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Hundreds attended a similar rally in Boulder in early March after job cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The EPA workforce is another major target as the White House rushes to shrink the federal government.
In February, the administration fired hundreds of EPA employees classified as “probationary,” a category covering workers with less than a year of federal service. A federal court has since ruled the terminations unlawful and ordered the agency to reinstate its workers. The Trump administration has appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In his first cabinet meeting, President Trump said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin would cut the agency’s workforce by 65 percent. His administration later clarified that Trump meant a 65 percent reduction in total EPA spending. But Zeldin told reporters the figure represented a “low number” of what he could achieve through a combination of staff and budget cuts.
It’s unclear if or when the agency will cut staff. In an emailed statement, Taylor Gillespie, a spokesperson for EPA Region 8, said “no decisions have been made” and the agency is “actively listening to employees at all levels” to gather ideas about the best way to meet its legal obligations.
The EPA has announced plans to eliminate all regional environmental justice offices and its scientific research arm. It’s also worked with DOGE to cancel nearly $2 billion in grants related to environmental justice and other priorities.
Renee Millard-Chacon, an environmental justice advocate and Commerce City councilwoman, addressed demonstrators before the march, imploring them to keepy protecting communities suffering from industrial pollution.
“Don’t go away. Do what indigenous communities had to do: hide your talents and use your medicine locally,” Chacon said. “Now is the time to really prove if you believe in it.”
Nolan Hahn, an EPA region 8 employee and a union steward, said many of the administration’s actions are blatant violations of the contract workers achieved through collective bargaining. Besides breaking the agreement and acting without congressional authority, he said President Trump has degraded federal employees trying to protect clean air and water.
“When the president goes on TV and say he wants to fire you and your coworkers, it’s really hard to do our important job here,” Hahn said.
