'Concerned' Republican rep. still supports Trump as federal layoffs hit his district
McKay Erickson, Image via Screengrab.
Republican Rep. McKay Erickson, who serves in the Wyoming House of Representatives, knows that federal layoffs are hurting his community, but he is still loyal to President Donald Trump, the Guardian reported Tuesday.
His district includes national lands where workers have been fired as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s effort to shrink the federal government. Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park employ — or employed — his constituents.
“These people have a face to me,” Erickson told the Guardian. “They have a face and a place in either Star Valley or Jackson that I know quite well.”
Erickson believes that there needs to be cuts to the federal government, “but in his district, he foresees a lack of trail maintenance hurting local outfitting companies and understaffed parks with closed gates,” writes the Guardian’s Cy Neff.
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“This way is so indiscriminate, and it doesn’t really drill down on the real issue as to where those cuts need to be,” Erickson said. “I’m afraid that probably all we’re going to lose is services.”
Still, Erickson maintains his support of the president. “It hasn’t really shaken me. It’s concerned me, but not shaken me in my support,” he said.
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis shared Erickson’s sentiments. “I fully support President Trump’s effort to ferret out the reckless and wasteful spending that has infected our government,” she told KHOL/Jackson Hole Community Radio.
For the past three presidential elections, Wyoming voted for Trump by a wider margin than any other state.
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Out of 17 supervisors at Grand Teton National Park, 16 were fired, according to the Associated Press. That leaves one person to oversee dozens of seasonal workers. “They’re basically knee-capping the very people who need to train seasonal” employees, Kristen Brengel, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, told the AP. “It puts the park in an untenable position. You’re going to hurt tourism.″
About 40 out of 220 workers were fired at Bridger-Teton National Forest, which is close to the size of Connecticut, according to Jackson Hole News & Guide.
The head of the U.S. Forest Service, Randy Moore, resigned following layoffs at the agency.
“Our agency’s work supports the nation’s wellbeing and its economy by providing community protection, jobs, goods and services, and a place to retreat and enjoy nature’s beauty,” he wrote in a letter to employees. “Many small businesses generate their livelihoods through permits to operate on national forests and grasslands. We provide drinking water to over 80 million Americans. We also help provide energy independence to the nation, issuing nearly 3,000 oil and gas leases. I say that to say this: You and the work you do are vital to the American way of life, and you are a valued employee who has performed admirably.”
