Sources within the Bureau of Land Management told the investigative news outlet The Lever they can no longer make emergency purchases related to their jobs after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative slapped a $1 limit on employee credit cards.
What this means, the sources said, is that officials may not be able to travel to combat wildfires in the coming weeks.
Adin Kloetzel, a former Forest Service employee fired by DOGE earlier this month, told the outlet he fears the cuts being made to these agencies are part of a broader initiative that will involve privatizing national parks.
“I’m worried about land swaps that put public land in private hands in order to profit," Kloetzel said.
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Rod Dow, a retired smokejumper whose nephew is currently part of an elite firefighting team in Alaska, said the cuts and limits being placed on agencies by DOGE are courting disaster.
"Sooner or later, something’s going to happen," he warned.
Dow also heaped scorn on Musk for cavalierly slashing government services without understanding their impact.
“Watching Musk cavorting on stage with a bedazzled chain saw that he’s never run in his life, while the Conservative Political Action Conference crowd laughed and cheered is especially galling juxtaposed with this,” he said.
