Cost of Living is Unaffordable to Fund MAGA Vanity Projects at Interior

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently sat before the House Natural Resources Committee to defend the White House's FY2027 budget for the Department of the Interior. He stumbled around some important questions. 

The budget cuts Interior funding by nearly 13% from 2026 levels at the expense of the Historic Preservation Fund, and salaries for civil servants at the National Park Service. Why? For $13.1 million to repaint the Lincoln Memorial pool a bluer shade of blue and to fund other MAGA vanity projects rather than decrease the cost of living as pointed out by Ranking Member Huffman (CA). 🤦 The project price is bloated and taking resources from critical public land restorations nationwide. Some highlights from the hearing:

• Your air and water. The U.S. Geological Survey loses $528 million and 29% of its staff, including the entire Ecosystems program. These are the scientists who track pollution, drought, and what's actually in your tap water. Congresswoman Ansari (AZ) pointed out that the budget eviscerates six critical Water Smart programs–Burgum said we need these programs but refused to make Water Smart program investments.
• Our parks. The budget eliminates 3,000 National Park Service positions, on top of the more than 25% of permanent staff already gone. What this means: fewer rangers, longer lines, overflowing trash cans, and less safety for visitors and workers alike.
• Our history. BLM's Cultural Resources Management program is zeroed out entirely. National park signs about enslavement, climate change, environmental stewardship, and Indigenous history have already been removed or are targeted for whitewashing. 
• Trump’s Second Border Wall. Congresswoman Grijalva (AZ) highlighted that border wall #2 construction permanently destroyed the ~1000 year old Las Playas Intaglio geoglyph, sacred to the Tohono O’odham Nation, in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife refuge and voiced concerns about encroachment on the Quitobaquito Springs, ancestral water sources for the Tohono O’odham and Hia C-eḍ O’odham tribes. Burgum refused to commit to protecting the spring, avoiding using groundwater within five miles of the sacred site, and monitoring the groundwater. 

We borrow our public lands from future generations. We owe them the truth about our national heritage so they can form a more perfect union. Tell your representative what you and your familia expect for public land funding. This budget isn't final until Congress says so.

Join the GreenLatinos Public Land and Ocean Collective to get involved.