Federal employees at the Environmental Protection Agency are now in limbo after EPA suspended dozens of workers who signed a dissent letter criticizing Administrator Lee Zeldin’s management of the agency.

Many EPA employees received notice on Thursday that they had either been suspended for two weeks without pay, or that they were on “notice of proposed removal” from their jobs, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 8,000 EPA employees.

The two-week suspensions come after EPA last week moved forward with fully firing at least eight employeeswho had signed a “declaration of dissent” in June. Six of the fired employees were probationary workers and two were career federal employees.

EPA employees who weren’t outright fired, however, are now awaiting the agency’s final call on what comes next. It’s unclear exactly how many of the 140 EPA employees who signed the dissent letter were suspended or put on “notice of proposed removal.” When asked for details on how many employees fell into each category, an agency spokesperson said, “EPA does not comment on individual personnel matters.”

But according to a recent survey that AFGE conducted, around 40 EPA employees reported being suspended without pay, while at least nine received the “notice of proposed removal” this week. Usually during a “notice of proposed removal,” federal employees get seven days to respond to the notice — after which the agency gets 30 days to make a final decision on the fate of the employee’s job.

Justin Chen, president of AFGE Council 238, which represents EPA employees, said the agency’s actions have been “scattershot.” Many employees requested extensions to provide responses to the notices. The agency granted some extensions, but not others, Chen said.

The firings and suspensions have impacted EPA researchers, scientists, engineers, toxicologists and attorneys — among many other agency roles. Some of the impacted EPA employees are senior-level subject matter experts.

“It’s going to significantly hamper the mission, just like everything else [the Trump administration has] done to the workers here within the agency,” Chen said in an interview. “We weren’t a huge agency in the first place, and we were all already underwater — this is just going to make everything worse.”

Additionally, due to EPA recently ending its recognition of AFGE and terminating its union contract, Chen said supporting the impacted employees has become more complicated. The federal union can no longer charge official time hours to represent the impacted workers. AFGE officials can also no longer serve as stewards to represent employees in meetings with EPA leadership.

“Management does not play along anymore,” Chen said.

The initial June 30 “declaration of dissent” was signed by a combination of named and anonymous EPA employees. It warned that the Trump administration’s leadership at EPA was “recklessly undermining” the agency’s mission by reversing long-standing policies and regulatory standards on the agency’s scientific assessments and findings.

“Make no mistake,” the employees wrote, “Your actions endanger public health and erode scientific progress — not only in America — but around the world.

An EPA spokesperson said the employees’ letter “contains inaccurate information designed to mislead the public about agency business.”

“Thankfully, this represents a small fraction of the thousands of hard-working, dedicated EPA employees who are not trying to mislead and scare the American public,” the EPA spokesperson added.

In early July, EPA leadership launched an investigation into the approximately 140 employees who had signed the letter. The investigation was meant to wrap up after two weeks, but ultimately lasted for nearly two months. An EPA spokesperson said following the investigation, agency supervisors made personnel decisions “on an individualized basis.”

“The Environmental Protection Agency has a zero-tolerance policy for career officials using their agency position and title to unlawfully undermine, sabotage and undercut the will of the American public that was clearly expressed at the ballot box last November,” the spokesperson said.

Federal employees at the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have similarly sent letters criticizing the Trump administration’s management of the federal agencies, and warning of disastrous consequences. Earlier this week, over 1,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services also called for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

“We intend to stand by our members,” Chen said. “We will hold together in solidarity, continue pushing forward, and hold our oath to uphold the Constitution, as well as public health within this country.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.