Just months after the Trump Administration gave federal employees the option to voluntarily resign, the U.S. Forest Service is asking those who resigned to return to work for the wildfire season.
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a video posted to the Department of Agriculture website on Thursday that employees who took the Trump Administration’s deferred resignation offer should be encouraged to “come back” for the wildfire season.
Schultz’s comments come as officials around the country, , have raised concerns that the mass layoffs and voluntary resignations of federal employees could impact the Forest Service’s ability to respond to wildfires.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has sought to reduce the size of the federal workforce, including through the deferred resignation program, which gave federal employees the option to resign while continuing to be paid and receive benefits through September.
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