President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda promises sweeping cuts to climate programs and federal oversight. As a result, some high-salary careers may be affected by shifts in policy.
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While these jobs will not go away completely, there may be fewer positions available in the coming years.
Offshore Wind Project Manager
- Typical pay: $72,000-$131,000 per year
Why the role may be at risk: An executive order issued by Trump on Jan. 21 withdrew every untapped section of the Outer Continental Shelf from new wind leases and ordered agencies to pause new permits until a full review finishes. Developers count on fresh acreage to replace projects now under construction; without it, the pipeline dries up and so does demand for program managers who coordinate multibillion-dollar builds. Several companies have frozen hiring and reassigned staff.
Extended leasing and permitting delays could put off potential offshore wind projects significantly. If developers cannot lock in new sites or secure timely approvals, they have little reason to carry full project teams, so companies are already reassigning or pausing recruitment for high-level managers. The longer the freeze lasts, the more likely it becomes that today’s six-figure jobs in scheduling, logistics and stakeholder outreach will migrate overseas or vanish outright.
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Senior Battery Engineer
- Typical pay: $103,000-$188,000 per year
Why the role may be at risk: The One Big Beautiful Bill ends the $7,500 consumer tax credit for new electric vehicles after Sept. 30, 2025, and phases out lucrative battery production credits by 2028. Tariffs have also made EV manufacturing in the U.S. more expensive. For example, global automaker Stellantis has paused production at its Windsor (Canada) and Toluca (Mexico) assembly plants and imposed short-term layoffs affecting 900 U.S. workers at five stamping, casting and transmission facilities after a 25% tariff took effect on vehicles imported from Canada and Mexico.
Uncertainty over future cross-border tariffs has forced automakers, including Toyota and GM, to slow or downsize North American EV production and rethink battery plant expansion. When assembly lines sit idle or are retooled away from electric models, the immediate need for senior battery engineers — experts in cell design, materials and thermal management — may shrink.
Geothermal Engineer
- Typical pay: $113,000-$186,000 per year
Why the role may be at risk: Geothermal energy has rare bipartisan backing and still qualifies for Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. However, former Energy Department officials say the sector is being “shot in the foot” by three Trump-era moves: deep staffing cuts at the Department of Energy that sap the agency’s capacity to guide projects, months-long delays in closing the low-interest federal loans that previous administrations used to jumpstart new technologies and a 50% tariff on imported steel, the material that lines miles-long geothermal wells.
Add new restrictions on “foreign entities of concern” in the critical-minerals supply chain, and investors have become skittish, slowing or shelving pilot wells. With fewer projects breaking ground, demand has fallen for engineers who design heat-exchange loops, model reservoirs and oversee high-temperature drilling — six-figure positions that draw on both oil-and-gas and power-plant expertise.
Environmental Compliance Manager
- Typical pay: $99,000-$163,000 per year
Why the role may be at risk: EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has confirmed that the agency is planning to revoke the 2009 greenhouse gas “endangerment finding,” the legal backbone for dozens of climate rules. With that cornerstone gone, many Clean Air Act standards will vanish, leaving corporations with far fewer federal reporting obligations.
At the same time, the EPA has been laying off employees and incentivizing resignations, signaling lighter oversight even where rules remain. Businesses may respond to this new regulatory environment by trimming compliance staff.
IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent
- Typical pay: $75,000-$125,000 per year
Why the role may be at risk: The proposed budget blueprint would slash overall IRS funding by 44% in fiscal year 2026 and more than half by 2027 once the Inflation Reduction Act money is withdrawn. Enforcement alone would drop 50% compared with 2025 levels.
These cuts push enforcement resources 40% below even the pre-IRA baseline, when the service was already struggling after a decade of austerity. Fewer agents means fewer people tracing crypto tumbling, narcotics proceeds and offshore tax fraud — higher-paid work that requires sophisticated financial forensics skills.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Jobs With High Salaries That Could Go Away in Trump’s Economy
