The Trump administration’s budget proposal for fiscal 2026 would slash the Interior Department’s budget by $5 billion, a 30 percent cut from current spending levels, according to numbers provided by the White House on Friday.
The cuts would be achieved in part by transferring some national park sites to states, cutting off research grant money to universities and achieving “deep reductions” at national monuments, according to a White House document.
The administration is proposing an $11.7 billion budget for the sprawling department of more than 60,000 employees that tends the nation’s national park system, oversees public lands, and manages the country’s vast oil and gas reserves under public land and offshore. The White House also proposes to add to Interior’s responsibilities, such as moving wildfire operations from the Forest Service to the department and shifting the endangered species tasks currently done by NOAA to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The cuts to renewable energy programs, research and conservation efforts reflect the Trump administration’s focus on downsizing government and bringing its actions more directly under the control of the White House.
