{"id":21441,"date":"2025-02-11T14:58:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T19:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=21441"},"modified":"2025-05-21T17:56:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T21:56:33","slug":"heinrich-murray-merkley-klobuchar-demand-answers-from-usda-on-wildfire-mitigation-projects-firefighting-hiring-halted-by-trumps-funding-freeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/heinrich-murray-merkley-klobuchar-demand-answers-from-usda-on-wildfire-mitigation-projects-firefighting-hiring-halted-by-trumps-funding-freeze\/","title":{"rendered":"Heinrich, Murray, Merkley, Klobuchar Demand Answers from USDA on Wildfire Mitigation Projects, Firefighting Hiring Halted by Trump\u2019s Funding Freeze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.),&nbsp;Ranking Member of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding the unlawful halt of federal funds needed to mitigate and fight wildfires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though\u00a0President Donald Trump did not apply the hiring freeze to positions related to \u201cpublic safety,\u201d federal firefighters are not currently exempt, and many have reported that their job offers were rescinded.\u00a0In the <a href=\"https:\/\/email.capitolenews.com\/q\/BWtZcYQlU4b-Ae0Xryy9SLYVGAjeDkopTa8kZcOJY2hhcmxvdHRlX2xhcmFjeUBlbmVyZ3kuc2VuYXRlLmdvdsOILG2dh86CebZfvWtQ5-eDPihqnw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">carta<\/a>\u00a0to Acting Secretary Gary Washington, the Senators pressed for more information on the stalled projects and hiring of thousands of federal firefighters, which are critical to protecting our nation\u2019s forests and American families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cSignificant questions remain around which projects, grants, and agreements have been affected by these executive actions, but there is no doubt that these actions will damage essential programs that Americans rely on to keep them safe,\u201d<strong>&nbsp;the Senators stated.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThe Forest Service provides a critical support function for communities across the country, from supporting the nation\u2019s wood products sector to mitigating the threat of catastrophic wildfire. Continuing to carry out this work as Congress prescribed is not only required under the law but essential for our nation\u2019s security,\u201d&nbsp;<strong>concluyeron los senadores.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>El texto completo de la carta est\u00e1 disponible. <a href=\"https:\/\/email.capitolenews.com\/q\/Sr5nYpH4vRaVzt0Xpw5uwOPN4zyyUJX1UK-ZcOLJY2hhcmxvdHRlX2xhcmFjeUBlbmVyZ3kuc2VuYXRlLmdvdsOIfLv8G4xRdLNFHC-BBRL_-Xi8_g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aqu\u00ed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.),&nbsp;Ranking Member of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[42,105,44,36,45,110],"class_list":["post-21441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-agriculture","tag-appropriations","tag-jobs-and-the-economy","tag-natural-resources-and-rural-development","tag-tackling-climate-change","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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