Heinrich heard from fired public lands employees and a New Mexico small business owner about the impacts of Trump and Musk’s mass firings
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, along with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Interior Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, and U.S. Senator Angus Kaine (I-Maine), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources National Parks Subcommittee, hosted a virtual roundtable with public lands employees fired President Trump and Elon Musk.
The senators heard from professionals from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service, as well as small business owner, Nick Streit, who owns the Taos Fly Shop near the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico.
“President Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE illegal firings have targeted our Park Rangers, Refuge Managers, Forest Rangers, and BLM land managers,” said Heinrich. “This included many employees who were ‘red carded,’ meaning that they were trained for wildland firefighting. Not only have these DOGE firings made Western communities much less safe going into fire season. Staffing shortages in our public lands will also lead to reduced recreation opportunities and public access. This is a disaster for our local economies as we head into Spring Break, normally a peak season for visitation.”
Heinrich continued, “We also need to be clear-eyed that this is just the start. Trump, Musk, and Republicans are defunding management of our public lands to make Americans think that they are being poorly managed. This is all part of their scheme to transfer our public lands to states so they can sell them to the highest bidder. I won’t stand for it.
Heinrich is leading Senate Democrats in sounding the alarm on Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s destructive actions that are wreaking havoc on Americans, weakening our economy, and threatening the livelihoods of New Mexicans.
Last month, Heinrich demanded that President Trump immediately halt his unlawful mass firings of federal employees on probationary status.
In New Mexico, there are approximately 2,200 federal employees in their probationary period – including individuals who serve in critical roles across key agencies, including the Veterans Health Administration, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, among others.
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