The New York Times unlocked: “The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, according to documents reviewed by Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The strategy is part of large-scale layoffs, known as a “reduction in force,” being planned by the Trump administration, which is intent on shrinking the federal work force. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the E.P.A., has said he wants to eliminate 65 percent of the agency’s budget. That would be a drastic reduction — one that experts said could hamper clean water and wastewater improvements, air quality monitoring, the cleanup of toxic industrial sites, and other parts of the agency’s mission. The E.P.A.’s plan, which was presented to White House officials on Friday for review, calls for dissolving the agency’s largest department, the Office of Research and Development, and purging up to 75 percent of the people who work there…

Shuttering the office would cost jobs across the country, particularly in places like North Carolina and Ada, Okla., two of the places where the agency operates major research labs, she said. In addition to chemists and biologists, the science office also employs physicians, nurses, hydrologists and experts who focus on plants, soils and wetlands. Chris Frey, who led the Office of Research and Development under the Biden administration, said eliminating it would create a vacuum that would allow an administration to impose any policies it wanted to…