U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz faced renewed scrutiny Saturday after a Washington Post report contradicted testimony he gave during a congressional hearing earlier in the week about whether federal spending cuts had hampered wildfire work in Minnesota.

On Wednesday, Rep. Angie Craig (DFL-MN) asked Schultz whether cuts tied to the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, early in President Donald Trump’s second administration had impeded firefighting efforts in the state. Schultz said they had not.

But as wildfires continue to burn in northern Minnesota, two U.S. Forest Service officials and a USFS document indicated that the DOGE-related funding pause had significantly affected wildfire prevention and firefighting preparations in Minnesota, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The dispute matters because wildfire mitigation work is often planned and funded before fire season, including projects intended to reduce vegetation and other fuels that can help fires spread. A pause in grants or contracts can therefore affect not only immediate spending, but also whether crews and local partners can complete work during available seasonal windows.

“At the beginning of 2025, the U.S. DOGE Service paused or canceled federal grants and spending to review whether they were connected to diversity or climate initiatives,” the Post reported.

“That affected nearly all of the Forest Service’s grant projects and funds, according to two USFS officials familiar with the situation, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of professional retaliation,” the report added.

Aaron Kania, a former U.S. Forest Service district ranger who retired last December, told the Post that if the funding had not been disrupted, current wildfires in Minnesota might have been better contained or potentially prevented.

“We were shovel-ready,” Kania said. “Had that work been implemented, it would have been effective in stopping or slowing down these fires. It’s the totality of all these things that set us back about a year and a half.”

Craig, in a statement to the Post, criticized the Trump administration and said its actions had weakened Minnesota’s ability to prepare for and fight wildfires.

“Yet again, the Trump administration’s short-sighted cuts to federal programs have put Minnesotans in danger,” Craig said. “Firefighters have died and Minnesota kids have been put in harm’s way – all because this administration decided to roll back critical wildfire prevention efforts. This is not a game. These are real lives.”