ICN Sunday Morning: Interior Department in Turmoil

Go behind the scenes with managing editor Jamie Smith Hopkins, data journalist Peter Aldhous and reporter Jake Bolster as they discuss an exclusive ICN analysis of workforce chaos at the Department of the Interior.One year into President Donald Trump’s second term, the Department of the Interior is in turmoil, hobbling many of the agencies overseeing the country’s public lands and waters. Not only has Interior lost some 11,000 employees, it’s also reeling from a drastic centralization of personnel, moving large numbers of staff into the office of the Interior secretary, Doug Burgum. That shift has created a hostile work culture, made staff less efficient and broken important lines of communication, former employees say. According to an Inside Climate News analysis of federal workforce data, almost 1,800 workers have left Burgum’s office since the reorganization—the vast majority opting to retire or quit.Peter, who conducted ICN’s data analysis, and Jake, whose focus includes public lands, describe how they discovered and took on this story, what makes Burgum’s reorganization so unique, and what ripple effects it may cause for America’s vast public lands and waters. Read the story: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17...Explore ICN’s reporting on public lands: https://insideclimatenews.org/topic/p...Subscribe to the ICN Sunday Morning newsletter: https://insideclimatenews.org/newslet... Support our nonprofit newsroom: https://insideclimatenews.org/donate