As the government shutdown enters its second month, the Interior department continues to issue oil and gas drilling permits at a rapid clip, even as tens of thousands of Interior employees remain furloughed and unpaid.
As of Tuesday, November 4, the Bureau of Land Management had issued more than 600 new permits to drill (APDs) on public lands since the shutdown began. While the government was shut down in October, BLM issued more than 19 permits per day. That’s more than 3 approvals for every workday hour in the month.
The overall pace of APD approvals rose in October to the highest level since May 2025.
The Interior department has also issued 37 new public land leases to oil and gas companies during the shutdown. The Center for Western Priorities is updating oil and gas permit and lease activity daily on our Oil and Gas Government Shutdown Tracker. The tracker breaks down permits and leases by state and company.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum sent a Halloween message to Interior employees last Friday, hours before he boarded a plane for the United Arab Emirates, telling them “your absence is felt—not just in operations, but in spirit.” Burgum’s email did not acknowledge his attempt to fire thousands of Interior department employees during the shutdown, which has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Despite the shutdown, Burgum is currently in Abu Dhabi for an oil conference and plans to travel to Greece later this week. The Interior department has not said how it is paying for Burgum’s travel during the lapse in congressional funding.
Interior’s own numbers tell the story: while tens of thousands of park rangers and land managers are furloughed, Doug Burgum is greenlighting oil and gas drilling at a rapid pace. That’s exploitation of our public lands, not stewardship.
Approving more than 600 drilling permits and dozens of new leases while parks operate with skeleton crews shows this shutdown is being used to benefit oil and gas executives at the expense of our public lands.
As for his shutdown world tour, there aren’t any American public lands in Abu Dhabi. Doug Burgum should stop trying to pretend he’s a diplomat and come home to do his job.