Trump's firing of 1,000 national park workers raises concerns about maintenance and operating hours

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government.

The firings, which weren't publicly announced but were confirmed by Democratic senators and House members, come amid what has been a chaotic rollout of an aggressive program to eliminate thousands of federal jobs. The plan is led by billionaire Elon Musk and the new Department of Government Efficiency, a Trump administration effort to slash federal spending. Adding to the confusion, the park service now says it is reinstating about 5,000 seasonal jobs that were initially rescinded last month as part of a spending freeze ordered by President Donald Trump.

Seasonal workers are routinely added during the warm-weather months to serve more than 325 million visitors who descend on the nation's 428 parks, historic sites and other attractions each year.