The federal hiring freeze implemented by President Donald Trump has affected the hiring of a crucial group of federal workers: firefighters.
The freeze comes at a critical time, when fire departments across the country would typically onboard thousands of seasonal federal firefighters in preparation for wildfires in the spring and summer.
Federal firefighters are an essential part of the nation’s firefighting capability. The Department of the Interior employed 5,780 federal wildland fire personnel in 2024, while the US Forest Service employed over 11,300.
The freeze means that fire trucks in Utah could be left with two people per truck instead of four or five – and some trucks won’t be staffed at all, according to CNN affiliate KSL.
The effect on firefighters comes because the White House has not said that firefighters fall under those “essential services” and thus warrant an exemption from the freeze, according to McLane.
Similarly, Gutierrez said, “We haven’t heard anything from the agency, whether they had filed an exemption or not, because there’s been no communication,” referring both to the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture.
Posted by John3262005
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Hate to be that guy but bookmark this to spam when this inevitably leads to horrible outcomes, especially in red voting districts and states.
We have to take the information war to them.