Government

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has unilaterally dissolved a collective bargaining agreement with members of the union that represents its workers, the union said Friday."

"In the week after floods tore through Texas Hill Country, most survivors were unable to get through to a federal aid hotline because the Department of Homeland Security let funding lapse, according to publicly available contract records and internal FEMA call center logs obtained by NPR."

"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will hire as many as 450 people to shore up the National Weather Service after deep cuts this spring raised concern about dangerous understaffing, the Trump administration confirmed Wednesday."

"Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday a crackdown on mRNA vaccine technology and research to develop it, following months of pressure from anti-vaccine activists."

"“This is a very baffling moment in time,” said one researcher. “I never would have thought we had to advocate for science.”" 

"The U.S. Congress has passed hundreds of laws protecting federal public lands over the past century through bipartisan efforts and with the support of local governments. Now, President Donald Trump’s administration and some Republican lawmakers in Congress are pushing policies and legislation that upend these protections."

"Seven proposals at the upcoming Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference of the parties would benefit up to 70 species of sharks -- if they pass." 

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will close its flagship, but deteriorating research site in Maryland as part of a major reorganization aiming to shift 2600 employees away from the nation’s capital area, the agency announced this week. At the same time, USDA said it plans to shutter most of its forest research stations around the country. "

"In a government survey, state and local officials said they were overworked, underpaid and underappreciated."