Sierra Club Statement on Layoff Freeze at Interior

WASHINGTON, D.C. -This week, documents emerged suggesting the Department of the Interior was putting plans for orchestrated widespread layoffs on hold.

Court filings made late Tuesday night, first reported on Thursday, indicated the Department would not institute Reductions in Force (RIF) plans for the duration of the federal government shutdown. The federal government has been shut down since October 1 after Republican refusals to extend Obamacare health insurance tax credits.

According to previous court filings, Interior had planned to lay off2,050 staff across multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Fish and Wildlife Service, and more. On October 10, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought posted "The RIFs have begun," on the website formerly known as Twitter.

Despite Vought's announcement, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining orderbarring the Trump administration from issuing or enforcing layoff notices to unionized employees during the ongoing federal shutdown. The court documents filed by the Trump administration indicate the Department has been developing plans for mass layoffs for months, and may review those plans after the end of the government shutdown.

In response, Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, released the following statement:

"These proposed layoffs have never been about fiscal responsibility - they are calculated cruelty against the workers who keep our shared national public lands preserved and welcoming. Since January, the Trump administration has worked to hollow out this workforce and make it impossible for these critical agencies to do their jobs safeguarding our public lands and environment, all in service of their ultimate goal of privatizing these landscapes. The American people love their national parks and public lands, and as we've seen time and time again, they will not tolerate those who would take away that natural heritage."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.