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Energy & Environment

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The Big Story

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.

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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Essential Reads

How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future:

Trump says Zeldin plans to cut up to 65 percent of EPA staff

President Trump said Wednesday that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin has floated cutting the agency’s workforce by up to 65 percent.

Full Story

National parks cutting hours, services amid federal layoffs

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.

Full Story

Forest Service chief expresses ‘frustration’ over staffing loss in retirement announcement

The head of the Forest Service announced Wednesday that he will retire and expressed “frustration” over the Trump administration’s staff cuts.

Full Story

In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

324 contaminants found in drinking water systems across US: Research

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.

Full Story

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:

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)

What Others are Reading

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

Musk grabs spotlight: 5 takeaways from Trump’s first Cabinet meeting

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

OPM instructs agencies to turn over plans for mass government layoffs

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