{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2025/11/20/bennet-demands-department-of-the-interior-grant-backpay-to-furloughed-national-park-service-seasonal-employees/", "Bennet Demands Department of the Interior Grant Backpay to Furloughed National Park Service Seasonal Employees", "2025-11-20", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "CO", "Michael F. Bennet", "B001267", "www.bennet.senate.gov", "bennet", "https://www.bennet.senate.gov/news/page/", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum demanding the Interior Department grant backpay to National Park Service (NPS) seasonal employees who were furloughed during the recent government shutdown.\n\n\u201cAs you know, the NPS relies on thousands of seasonal employees each summer and shoulder season to fill essential roles across the agency. They serve as rangers, camp hosts, maintenance crews, researchers, and staff for visitor centers, campgrounds, trails, waysides, and entrance stations. Seasonal staff are often the first and last points of contact for visitors at more than 430 national park units, making them an indispensable part of the agency\u2019s workforce and the overall visitor experience at America\u2019s most iconic destinations,\u201d wrote Bennet.\n\n\u201cThese employees remained available during the shutdown. They choose this work not for financial gain, but out of dedication to America\u2019s national parks and a desire to preserve and share our nation\u2019s history. These realities make reports that your Department may not issue backpay for seasonal employees especially troubling. Not only does withholding pay irreparably harm some of the NPS\u2019s most vulnerable staff at a time of immense difficulty and uncertainty, it discourages future applicants and further strains the NPS\u2019s ability to recruit the skilled, committed employees the agency and the American public depend on,\u201d continued Bennet.\n\nSecretary Burgum consolidated all human resource (HR) functions at the Department of the Interior\u2019s bureaus, including the NPS, under the Office of the Secretary\u2019s jurisdiction, giving the Secretary sole HR responsibility across the Department. Bennet emphasized that federal law requires agencies to grant furloughed employees retroactive pay, and if NPS continues to refuse to grant backpay, it will be in violation of existing law.\n\nThe text of the letter is available HERE and below.\n\nDear Secretary Burgum:\n\nI am writing to express serious concern about reports that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) may not grant backpay to National Park Service (NPS) seasonal employees furloughed during the 2025 government shutdown and urge you to immediately authorize backpay.\n\nAs you know, the NPS relies on thousands of seasonal employees each summer and shoulder season to fill essential roles across the agency. They serve as rangers, camp hosts, maintenance crews, researchers, and staff for visitor centers, campgrounds, trails, waysides, and entrance stations. Seasonal staff are often the first and last points of contact for visitors at more than 430 national park units, making them an indispensable part of the agency\u2019s workforce and the overall visitor experience at America\u2019s most iconic destinations.\n\nDespite this critical work, seasonal employees are often paid low wages and struggle with high living costs in remote or expensive park communities. These employees remained available during the shutdown. They choose this work not for financial gain, but out of dedication to America\u2019s national parks and a desire to preserve and share our nation\u2019s history.\n\nThese realities make reports that your Department may not issue backpay for seasonal employees especially troubling. Not only does withholding pay irreparably harm some of the NPS\u2019s most vulnerable staff at a time of immense difficulty and uncertainty, it discourages future applicants and further strains the NPS\u2019s ability to recruit the skilled, committed employees the agency and the American public depend on.\n\nSection 116 of Division A of the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2026 (2026 CR) provides retroactive pay pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1341(c) to Federal employees affected by the 2025 government shutdown, including furloughed employees and employees required to perform excepted work. Seasonal workers are federal employees, and withholding pay is counter to the 2026 CR and therefore in violation of existing law.\n\nBecause the human resources functions of each DOI bureau have been consolidated under the Office of the Secretary and are now ultimately your sole responsibility, I urge you to immediately instruct DOI to issue backpay for the affected seasonal employees furloughed during the 2025 government shutdown.\n\nThank you for considering this request.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2025/11/20/bennet-demands-department-of-the-interior-grant-backpay-to-furloughed-national-park-service-seasonal-employees/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3553739991039038, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}