Trump administration officials are split on whether they need a congressional green light to move the nation’s massive firefighting operations at the Forest Service to the Interior Department.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has led an effort by the administration to consolidate the fire program across public lands, declined to confirm for Senate appropriators Wednesday that he believes Congress must approve his proposal.
“I’ll defer to the solicitor’s office on that, because I haven’t heard a final opinion one way or the other,” he said during a committee hearing to discuss the department’s proposed budget, before committing to speaking with the lawmakers again after a determination from his agency lawyers.
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the Forest Service, said while talks are going on between the federal agencies, she suspected Congress would need to weigh in.
