Two top Democrats on committees overseeing the Forest Service pressed the Trump administration for details on how a plan to shed several thousand employees would affect efforts against wildfire.
“Such a drastic reduction in staff will harm the Forest Service’s ability to respond to wildfire and make Americans less safe,” wrote Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico in a letter Monday to Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary Kristin Sleeper.
Klobuchar is ranking Democrat on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. Heinrich is ranking Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The senators posed a series of questions related to staff reductions and wildfire, including how many of the anticipated departures — which officials are contemplating through a reduction in force and early retirements — would affect firefighters or employees who are certified in fire even if their regular jobs are unrelated.
