# 119-s-2597: Saving the Department of the Interior's Workforce Act

119-s-2597, Saving the Department of the Interior's Workforce Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2597
- As of: 2026-09-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-2597
- Congress: 119
- Title: Saving the Department of the Interior's Workforce Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-07-31
- Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-10

## Summary

**A moratorium on reductions in force at the Department of the Interior** would pause any layoffs or involuntary separations across all Interior agencies and bureaus until full-year appropriations for fiscal year 2026 are enacted. The halt would prevent initiating or implementing reductions in force and would bar involuntary separations of competitive service employees, career excepted-service employees, and career Senior Executive Service appointees, except for removals for misconduct, delinquency, or poor performance.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI), 2025-07-31T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Protect Interior workers from layoffs: benefit, high. If enacted, this bill would bar the Secretary of the Interior from starting or carrying out any reduction in force. It would apply to every agency and bureau inside the Department of the Interior. It would also bar involuntary separations of competitive service employees, career excepted service em…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act

## Sources
- [119-s-2597 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2597)

## Related
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4949)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2763)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2597 (as of 2026-09-10).