The government is being criticized by the press for failing to pass air pollution legislation.

criticized 是动词 criticize 的过去分词形式，在句中表示被动语态。criticize 由词根 critic（批评家）和后缀 -ize（使...化）组成，意思是"批评、指责"。criticized 在这里表示"被批评"的意思。