The Washington Post reports:

At the Environmental Protection Agency, research at 11 laboratories has ground to a halt because the Trump administration has not approved most new lab purchases.

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, key work on weather forecasting has slowed to a crawl because Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick must sign off personally on many contracts and grants. And at the Social Security Administration, some employees are running out of paper, pens and printer toner because the U.S. DOGE Service has placed a $1 spending limit on government-issued credit cards. (DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, though it is not a Cabinet-level agency.)

Across the federal government, Trump officials are halting a wide range of operations by declining to approve key funds. This unofficial hold on many activities has incapacitated many agencies’ divisions, even though they remain technically intact.

This account of how the administration and DOGE are stalling government operations is based on interviews with more than a dozen federal employees across eight agencies, as well as several internal emails and documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The effects are especially pronounced at the EPA, where staffers at 11 labs have struggled to continue researching an array of environmental threats, including air and water pollution as well as toxic “forever chemicals.” The labs are run by the Office of Research and Development, or ORD, which may be eliminated as part of a broader reorganization of the agency.

On paper, the division still exists. But in practice, the office’s research has been crippled by a new requirement that Trump officials approve all new lab purchases, according to three ORD employees. [Continue reading…]