Press Release: Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

Last week, United States Secretary of Energy Chris Wright appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies for a hearing on the Department of Energy’s fiscal year 2026 budget request. During the hearing, Secretary Wright made several incorrect, misleading, or outright false statements.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, released a scathing statement in response to the Trump Administration's mass termination of National Endowment for the Humanities grants.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the top Democrats on the subcommittees that oversee funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), demanded the Trump Administration immediately reinstate terminated Indian Affairs employees, lift the hiring freeze, and officially rescind the deferred resignation and early retirement offers. As Ranking Members of the Senate and House Interior Appropriations Subcommittees, Merkley and Pingree wrote to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum urging the Administration to instead work to strengthen and grow the Indian Affairs staff to best meet the needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives in accordance with our treaty and trust obligations.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In letters sent today to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the United States Forest Service, and Department of the Interior (DOI), which encompasses eleven bureaus, including the National Park Service, House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) demanded answers and transparency from the Trump Administration over the mass termination of federal employees.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee, says the Trump Administration’s reported firing of 3,400 U.S. Forest Service (FS) employees will severely hinder the agency’s ability to fight wildfires.

Today, House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Chellie Pingree warned the Trump Administration that its ill-conceived federal hiring freeze will jeopardize National Park Service (NPS) operations at national parks like Acadia. Pingree called on Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to immediately resume all seasonal hiring for the NPS and emphasized that the seasonal workforce is essential to safely and successfully operating parks for more than 325 million annual visitors.

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01), the top Democrats on the subcommittees that oversee funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS), demanded urgent action from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to stop dangerous cuts to the IHS workforce, which is already facing huge challenges and staffing vacancies.

Today, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) joined House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-Ga.) in demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over the Trump Administration’s illegal federal funding freeze—which is already causing significant harm to America’s farmers, foresters and rural communities.