 Energy & Environment |
Energy & Environment |
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Interior halts employee spending and travel |
The Interior Department has paused spending and travel for employees — a move that could potentially hinder scientific work at the agency. |
© Jose Luis Magana, Associated Press |
An email viewed by The Hill shows that spending limits on employee purchase cards have been reduced to $1 — meaning staffers can no longer use these cards to make purchases of equipment or to pay to submit scientific research to journals. Other emails also seen by The Hill show that, at least for the time being, all travel has been paused until the department updates its approval process. Employees who were slated to travel to conferences have been told to cancel their travel. It's not clear how long the travel moratorium will remain in place. A spokesperson for the Interior Department declined to comment. The department has a broad mandate, overseeing energy production on public lands and offshore, species conservation, tribal affairs and more. Its work includes a mix of regulation, scientific research and handling permits for energy projects. Jacob Malcom, a former Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who more recently served in multiple leadership roles at Interior, noted that halting both purchases and travel could be a major imposition for the department's operations. "If you need tools, equipment out in the field for things, this all has to be purchased in some way," said Malcom, who served as a career official leading the department's Office of Policy Analysis during the Biden administration. He most recently served as the department's acting deputy assistant secretary but resigned amid the department's decision to fire thousands of recent hires. Read more at TheHill.com. |
Welcome to The Hill's Energy & Environment newsletter, we're Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains. |
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How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future: |
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President Trump said Wednesday that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has floated cutting the agency's workforce by up to 65 percent. |
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National parks across the U.S. face service reductions and staffing shortages due to federal budget cuts, affecting more than 1,000 employees and potentially millions of visitors. |
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The head of the Forest Service announced Wednesday that he will retire and expressed "frustration" over the Trump administration's staff cuts. |
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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A survey of nearly 50,000 water networks nationwide revealed a staggering 324 different contaminants flowing out of American taps — with detectable levels of various pollutants showing up in nearly all water systems. |
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News we've flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics: |
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EPA tells White House to strike down landmark climate finding (The Washington Post) A new document undercuts Trump admin's denials about $400 million Tesla deal (NPR)
The Natural Gas Turbine Crisis (Heatmap)
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Two key stories on The Hill right now: |
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A Wednesday memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directs agencies across government to turn over plans for widespread layoffs of federal employees by March 13. Read more |
| President Trump hosted the first Cabinet meeting of his second term Wednesday, gathering top officials in one place and fielding questions for roughly an hour. Read more |
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You're all caught up. See you tomorrow! |
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