U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Congress on Thursday that he doesn’t know how many wildfire-certified personnel have left his department as a result of the federal voluntary resignation program and mass firings.

Burgum made the comments during a U.S. House Natural Resources Committee hearing while being questioned by Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colorado).

“Do you know how many ‘red card’ holders left the Interior Department in the last six months?” Neguse asked, referring to the Incident Qualification Card program that certifies federal employees to participate in wildfire operations.

“I do not,” Burgum responded.

Around the country, including in Colorado, officials have been raising concerns that the Trump Administration’s mass layoffs and voluntary resignations of federal employees could impact the federal government’s response capabilities this wildfire season.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration has sought to reduce the size of the federal workforce. The deferred resignation program gave federal employees the option to resign while continuing to be paid and receive benefits through September.

Roughly 2,700 Interior Department employees accepted the deferred resignation option, according to POLITICO. The Bureau of Land Management, which falls under the Interior Department, is the second-largest federal agency in charge of fighting wildfires, second only to the U.S. Forest Service.

“Wouldn’t that be something that’s important to know — How many red card holders have left your agency — so that we’d be ready for the fire season?” Neguse asked Burgum.

Neguse noted that U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz last week asked red card holders at his agency, which falls under the Department of Agriculture, to “come back” to work for the wildfire season.

A Department of Agriculture spokesperson told the Summit Daily News this week that it lost over 1,400 employees with wildfire qualifications through various voluntary separation programs or regular retirements in the past six months. The Agriculture Department has 10,856 wildland firefighters on board, or 96% of its goal, he said.

Neguse also questioned Burgum on how many total wildfire personnel the Interior Department has hired this season. But Burgum could not provide a specific number — only that a total of 17,000 firefighting personnel have been hired between the Interior Department and the Agriculture Department.

“This is not a gotcha question,” Neguse said, noting that the Department of Interior website states that there were 5,780 total federal wildfire personnel employed by the agency in 2024.

“It’s essentially the same as last year because we’re flat across both agencies at about 17,000 firefighters,” Burgum responded.

Neguse said he asked Burgum the question because “I’m just trying to get some representation that we have not lost fire personnel since last year.” 

Interior Department Office of the Secretary spokesperson J. Elizabeth Peace said Friday that the department currently has 4,830 wildland fire personnel and is continuing to hire for this season. Peace said the department plans to have employed more than 5,700 federal and 900 tribal wildland firefighters and support personnel by the end of 2025.

“Due to the seasonal nature of fire activity across different regions, not all personnel will be working at the same time,” Peace said. “These staffing levels are consistent with prior years.”

Peace did respond to a question about how many red card holding employees the department lost through the voluntary resignation program.