The Environmental Protection Agency has placed on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a so-called “declaration of dissent” against the federal agency's policies. Thursday's action came after EPA employees declared the agency is no longer living up to its mission to protect human health and the environment. Their letter made public Monday represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environment and health science programs. An EPA statement Thursday said the agency has a zero-tolerance policy for what it called career bureaucrats who are unlawfully undermining, sabotaging and undercutting the Trump administration agenda.