Sarah Elfreth Grills Secretary Doug Burgum On Rehiring Of Department Of Interior Employees Fired By DOGE Cuts

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During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD) questioned Secretary Burgum on the rehiring of Department of Interior employees that were fired during DOGE cuts.

Transcript

00:00The chair recognizes the gentlelady from Maryland, Ms. Elfrith, for five minutes.

00:05Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here.

00:07We've talked a lot today about issues that are incredibly pressing,

00:10national parks, energy generation, public access.

00:13I want to lend my voice to many of those.

00:14But I'm going to first focus my time on the individuals who deliver those services

00:19for the American people and taxpayers.

00:21So it's my understanding that on February 14th,

00:23your department fired nearly 2,000 employees in critical positions,

00:27ranging from frontline park staff to scientists who prepare our public lands

00:32for extreme weather to employees who assist in addressing wildfires.

00:36Federal courts have since ordered agencies to reverse many of these wrongful terminations,

00:40and your department indicated in federal court filings last month

00:44that you had begun reinstating probationary employees.

00:47And just for the record, I want to state probationary simply means they were so brand new

00:51and eager in their public service, or they were so good at their public service,

00:54they received a promotion.

00:56So first, can you tell of this committee how many of these employees have been reinstated

01:01at Interior, and what employees who were fired in error have been rehired?

01:05I believe that nearly everyone that was involved in that action has been extended in offer.

01:12I don't know specifically how many of them refused to return to their jobs,

01:18but we followed the court order to reinstate those jobs.

01:23I'm glad to hear that.

01:24Could we possibly get that response in writing those numbers in writing?

01:27Yeah, I'm sure.

01:29And I completely appreciate that DOJ has a tendency to shoot first and aim second.

01:33So now that you have your feet under you as secretary, your busy season is just beginning.

01:38Can you give this committee any insight into your greatest personnel needs,

01:41and if you can commit to prioritizing those who have been fired in filling those greatest

01:46personnel needs?

01:46Well, I think the place that we're focused on right now to want everybody to tell their constituents

01:52is that while we have added 6,100 summer staff, we still have some open recs for summer roles

02:02in the national parks, and so if anybody's looking to join the national park service for a summer

02:08temporary job, positions are still open.

02:10We will share that with our constituents.

02:13I want to move on to a program we haven't yet discussed today, which is the Historic Preservation

02:16Fund, something near and dear to my heart and my district.

02:19Congress appropriated 168 million in funding for the HPF this year, but we're nine months

02:24into the fiscal year, and that money has yet to be released.

02:27It's frankly an unacceptable delay in funds that were bipartisanly appropriated by Congress,

02:32and it's resulted, as I'm sure you know, in states like Ohio and Arizona, either firing

02:36staff or in one case shuttering their Historic Preservation Offices completely.

02:41In your Appropriations Committee hearing testimony, you said you're, quote, waiting on the apportionment

02:47to come out of OMB, yet OMB has recently told preservation advocates that the FY25 HPF is being

02:55held up by the White House for review.

02:57Can you give us any insight which office is holding that critical funding up?

03:01I don't know exactly where it's held up, but we'll dig into that.

03:05I appreciate that.

03:06We're entering almost the 250th anniversary of this country's founding, and so those funds

03:10are critical in telling all the stories of Americans.

03:16I do want to move on or keep on the Historic Preservation Fund just for a minute.

03:21You said in front of House Appropriations that Interior is focused on streamlining our core

03:25business operations, which will result in improved efficiencies and lower costs for American taxpayers,

03:30but I'm sure you know that those Historic Preservation Funds are not actually taxpayer dollars.

03:34They didn't come from my taxes.

03:36They come from offshore drilling lease revenues, paid for by oil and gas companies.

03:41So where is that money going, or where is it sitting right now?

03:46We're talking about, again, $160 million that should be directed to HPF, and it's just sitting

03:51somewhere.

03:52I don't want to say that you lost me a little bit on the fund that the $168 came from.

04:00It comes from oil and gas lease revenues, not from taxpayers.

04:05And you're saying that's held up somewhere?

04:07That's what entirely my understanding makes up Historic Preservation Funds, is those lease

04:12revenues, not your and my taxpayer dollars.

04:15Gotcha.

04:16So I'm just curious where that $168 million is sitting right now.

04:20I'll dig into that.

04:25Okay.

04:26I would greatly appreciate it.

04:27Again, there's some urgency here.

04:28States are shutting down their offices.

04:29This is a federal-state partnership, and again, we're coming up on a critical deadline.

04:35I'm just going to close out, and I appreciate your willingness to prioritize the rehiring

04:40of folks who were fired.

04:41I represent 44,000 federal employees in my district in Maryland, some of whom are your employees

04:47as well.

04:48And I just, Mr. Chair, I'm very sincere about you prioritizing those when you are restructuring,

04:56when you are rehiring to respect the civil servants who have given of themselves and their families

05:00to this nation.

05:02And with that, I yield back.

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