During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, President Trump mentioned Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.), plans to reduce the agency’s workforce by 65 percent. This significant cut, according to officials, would severely hinder the E.P.A.’s operations.

Trump stated that Zeldin “believes he can eliminate around 65 percent of the staff in environmental roles while also expediting the process.” Shortly after this announcement, agency managers reported receiving a memo from the White House instructing them to start preparing for widespread layoffs.

The memo, distributed to leaders across various agencies, indicated that the federal government is “costly, inefficient, and heavily in debt.” Although it did not explicitly mention the 65 percent figure, it detailed procedures for a reduction in force at the E.P.A., resulting in substantial job losses.

The E.P.A. did not provide a comment on Zeldin’s proposed cuts. As of late December, the agency employed 15,123 full-time staff members, according to the latest budget report. A reduction of this magnitude could eliminate nearly 10,000 positions, which would substantially impact the agency tasked with maintaining clean air and water, noted Marie Owens Powell, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing E.P.A. employees.

Owens Powell expressed concern that the administration had not communicated its 65 percent reduction goal to the union, explaining that she first learned about it from Trump during a televised broadcast.

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