Sierra Club Releases First Trove of Emails, Texts, and Calendars from Trump’s Department of the Interior

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Sierra Club released the first batch of communications and calendars received from the Department of the Interior in the wake of the organization's lawsuitfollowing the agency's failure to respond to public records requestsfor the documents. The Sierra Club sought calendar items and text and email records between agency officials and fossil fuel industry representatives, corporate polluters, conservative think tanks, and others.

READ THE FILES: Emails| Text Messages| Calendars

The first trove of documents-totaling more than 1,000 pages of emails, dozens of pages of text messages, and more than 2,000 pages of calendar items-reveal that in the first few months of 2025, there was growing bipartisan concern from both Republican and Democratic members of Congress alike who asked the Trump Administration--sometimes frantically--for updates about its mass firings and funding freezes at the department. The messages show unease that funding for everything from disaster relief recovery efforts for wildfire- and tornado-ravaged communities to critical drinking water infrastructure projects were halted by the agency's misguided funding freeze directive. The records also show countless meeting requests from fossil fuel companies, mining corporations, and more.

The calendar documents released today also show the presence of staffers from Elon Musk's DOGE agency, or the "Department of Government Efficiency", in meetings regarding agency budget, staffing, contracts, and more. The DOGE staffers embedded within Interior-Tyler Hassen, Katrine Trampe, Amanda Scales, Stephanie Holmes, Christina Bonarrigo, and possibly others-have been covered widely in news accountsafter Interior and other agencies froze vital funding, suspended contracts, conducted mass firings, and more. Many if not all have since transitioned out of government, but questions remain about their roles in the decision-making process at Interior and across federal agencies.

In total, the records released today in this trove include, but are not limited to:

• Texts and emails between Rep. Ryan Zinke's (R-MT) Chief of Staff Heather Swift and then-Acting Assistant Secretary Charlie Dankert asking for an emergency meeting regarding the Trump administration's funding freeze having "inadvertently" suspended a drinking water infrastructure repair project in Montana that serves tens of thousands of residents. Zinke's advisor notes she's trying to "push off" reporters inquiring about the freeze. In a separate text, Swift sends Dankert a photo of a sign noting that the Fresno Dam in Montana is closed due to staff funding cuts. "FYI," she writes. "Careers always going to find ways to make you look bad." (Text pp. 2-4, Email pp. 195-197)
• Idaho Governor Brad Little's office asking Dankert for an update on a federal appeal case it appears the Governor and Secretary Burgum spoke about. "Do you have any update on the stockwater case," the staffer wrote. "That was the case we were asking Sec Burgum to get DOJ to drop the appeal on Idaho". (Text pp. 5-6)
• Numerous emails between the Majority Clerk of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior-which oversees Interior's spending-requesting phone calls, meetings, and emailed explanations of mass firings, possible exemptions for new project starts under a Continuing Resolution, and other "bicameral and bipartisan" concerns that have arisen regarding what is happening at the Department (Email pp. 155-156, 163-172, 185, 191-192, 207-209)
• Sen. Mike Crapo's (R-ID) office contacting the agency regarding concerns that mass firings have impacted U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service staffing in Idaho. (pp. 183-184)
• Sen. James Lankford's (R-OK) office contacting the agency to flag that disaster-related funding for wildfire and tornado-ravaged communities in Oklahoma had been impacted by the Trump administration's funding freeze, as well as the funding freeze's impact on disaster funding for the town of Sulphur, OK. (Email pg. 194, 210-212)
• Multiple meetings regarding pending Department of Interior action plans that still have not been publicly released, despite being more than a year overdue.
• Numerous oil, gas, mining, and other industry meeting requests with Secretary Burgum.

"These are only a small fraction of the records we're seeking from Interior, but what these messages and calendar entries clearly show is that funding freezes, the mass firings of dedicated public servants, and blatant catering to polluting corporations are preventing federal agencies from doing their job to serve the American people," said Jackie Feinberg, Sierra Club's National Lands Conservation Campaign Manager. "The Trump Administration's ongoing efforts to hand over our public lands to mining corporations and Big Oil CEOs, cancel clean energy projects, and raise costs for families is shocking but unsurprising when you see how the Department of the Interior has been spending its time."

Conrad | Metlitzky | Kane LLP and Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program are representing Sierra Club in the ongoing lawsuit against Interior.

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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.