The Trump Administration, with the help of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), continues to target a wide range of federal government agencies for mass layoffs — from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Critics of the layoffs, including some conservatives and libertarians, fear that public safety will be jeopardized.
Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) considers the layoffs reckless and haphazard, warning that the U.S. is in trouble when air traffic controllers are losing their jobs and the SSA is losing workers who help seniors receive their Social Security payments. And former SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley fears the SSA will have difficulty functioning in the months ahead.
Another agency that is struggling with layoffs, according to Politico, is the U.S. Forest Service.
ALSO READ: 'Alarming': Small colleges bullied into silence as Trump poses 'existential threat'
In an article published on April 23, Politico reporters Jordan Wolman and Natalie Fertig address concerns that the Forest Service will be at a disadvantage when it comes to battling wildfires this summer.
Wolman and Fertig explain, "Emergency hires. A new sales tax. An infusion of state money. Officials from Nevada to New Jersey to Utah and beyond are scrambling to take stock of President Donald Trump's cuts to the U.S. Forest Service — and deciding how to respond as the summer wildfire season looms…. Trump has cut 10 percent of workers at the Forest Service, an agency that manages 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands, with more firings and a steep reorganization likely coming."
According to Wolman and Fertig, roughly "75 percent of" Forest Service staff "are trained in wildland firefighting" — which "means there are fewer workers around the country clearing brush and thinning trees to reduce the risk and intensity of wildfires."
Democrat Jared Polis is among the governors who is sounding the alarm about the effect that Forest Service layoffs could have in his state.
"Forest fires aren't going to take four years off just because of who's in the White House," Polis warned. "So it's really important that states up the bar on preparation."
Similarly, Nevada fire warden Kacey KC told Politico, "We're going to be headed into what could be a big fire season in the state of Nevada. I'm nervous about our ability to maintain those public lands with the people who work on the ground, doing the important, critical work that actually helps lessen the risk of catastrophic loss from fire."
Read the full Politico article at this link.