Federal Government Policy and Business

Interior chief wants to shed 4,000 employees in department shake-up

The Washington Post: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told lawmakers Wednesday that he plans to shrink his department’s sprawling workforce by 4,000 employees — about 8 percent of the full-time staff — as part of budget cuts to downsize the government’s largest public lands agency.

Zinke, testifying before a Senate panel on the White House’s proposed budget for the Department of the Interior for fiscal 2018, said he would rely on a combination of attrition, reassignments and buyouts to make the cuts. Depending on how fast and effective those strategies are, the department “will determine the need for further action to reduce staffing,” he said in prepared testimony, a reference to possible layoffs.

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