EXCLUSIVE: A new proposal would expand which military families will qualify for lifetime National Park passes.
The "Benefits that Endure for Lifetimes of Service (BELO'S) Act" would apply to Gold Star families and service members who died from a "service-connected illnesses or service-related incident," like a training accident while in the United States, serious illness or an injury.
Currently, Gold Star families and veterans can obtain a free lifetime pass, as well as anybody with a "permanent disability" regardless of military status.
The legislation is named after the late U.S. Army First Sergeant Marc Belo, who died from cancer related to his military service in May 2024. Belo worked closely alongside Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., the bill’s sponsor, including on a deployment in 2012.
"I’m proud to introduce the BELOS Act, honoring my dear friend and fellow solider, First Sergeant Marc Belo," Evans told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"Marc was a giant— a true leader, role model, and the godfather of flying in our unit. When Marc passed away last year, he left a hole in the hearts of all who knew him. I’m proud to honor him by ensuring families of fallen heroes are never forgotten," he added.
For the current edibility, the passes are offered as part of an effort with the National Parks Service and Operation Live Well, but the bill modifies the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act to go beyond just those who died in the usual "qualifying situation" that Gold Star families are determined by.
The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., and has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.
EXCLUSIVE: When it comes to President Donald Trump's mission to overhaul and downsize the federal government through his recently created Department of Government Efficiency, which is known by its acronym DOGE, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is all in.
"I think that we're off to a great start in Interior, we're completely embracing the DOGE effort," Burgum emphasized in a national digital exclusive interview with Fox News.
Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO and former two-term North Dakota governor who ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination before dropping out of the race and heavily supporting Trump, spotlighted government transparency when touting DOGE.
"Part of what DOGE is bringing is just awareness to the republic, to the people that are in our country," he said. "Great government is always transparent. And that's what we're doing."
Burgum also highlighted that when it comes to DOGE's mission, "part of it is the federal government is so outdated on the technology… we have to get caught up. We're decades behind."
Trump named Elon Musk — the world's richest person and the chief executive of Tesla and Space X — to steer DOGE.
DOGE has swept through federal agencies since Trump was inaugurated a month ago, rooting out what the White House argues was billions in wasteful federal spending. It has also taken a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, resulting in a massive downsizing of employees. The moves by DOGE have triggered a slew of lawsuits in response.
Gov. Ned Lamont argued on Thursday that DOGE appears to be aiming to "push costs down to the states and say, ‘You guys deal with it.'"
"It has nothing to do with efficiency. It has everything to do with just cost shifting. And if that's all they want to do, then it's not DOGE. It ought to be called dodge, a way to just push the costs on to our people," Lamont told reporters.
The cuts by DOGE have hit Interior, which is responsible for the management and conservation of most federally held lands and natural resources. The department's workforce has been downsized over the past week by roughly 2,000 jobs.
"We're trying to right size the full-time positions that we have," Burgum said when asked about the job cuts at Interior.
And in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier on "Special Report" a day earlier, Burgum added that "on a personal level, of course, I've got great empathy for anybody that loses a job… but I think we have to realize that every American is better off if we actually stop having a $2 trillion a year deficit."
Roughly 1,000 of the cuts at Interior were newly hired National Park Service employees, who maintain and clean the parks, educate and inform visitors, and handle other duties.
But Burgum said Interior is reinstating about 5,000 seasonal jobs that were originally rescinded last month.
Seasonal workers are normally added during the spring and summer months to handle the more than 325 million annual visitors who visit the nation’s 428 parks, historic sites and other attractions.
"We did post last week 5000 summer jobs. So, if someone is looking for one of the greatest experiences of your life and want to spend the summer working at a national park, we're hiring," Burgum told Fox News Digital, as he made his pitch. "And if you want to work as a wildland firefighter, we're hiring. These are seasonal jobs. But again, an exciting way to get an experience in some of America's most beautiful places."
Burgum centered his short-lived presidential campaign on the economy, energy and national security.
And now, as Interior Secretary, where he manages all oil and gas drilling leases on federal lands and waters, he's a major salesman in Trump's all-of-the-above energy agenda.
"President Trump has a vision of what has been called energy dominance, but it's really about how do we bring back the strength and the power of American energy in a way that lifts up all Americans," he said.
Burgum was interviewed minutes ahead of a Thursday appearance with the Republican Governors Association, and ahead of a Friday speech to the National Governors Association, which were both holding winter meetings in the nation's capital.
"The message to all these governors is, hey, the people in your state, regardless of which party you're in, are all going to be happier. Because when President Trump lowers the price of energy, it lowers inflation for everyone," he emphasized.
And Burgum argued that "when we export more energy abroad to our friends and allies, that is going to help President Trump win the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, part of the way he ends these wars is we sell energy to our allies so they can stop buying it from our adversaries who are using those oil sales to fund wars against us."
Following President Donald Trump's move to change the name of the tallest mountain in North America to Mount McKinley, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has once again introduced a measure to designate the mountain as Denali.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is the original cosponsor.
"In Alaska, it’s Denali," Murkowski, said, according to a press release.
"Once you see it in person, and take in the majesty of its size and breathe in its cold air, you can understand why the Koyukon Athabascans referred to it as 'The Great One.' This isn’t a political issue – Alaskans from every walk of life have long been advocating for this mountain to be recognized by its true name. That’s why today I once again introduced legislation that would officially keep this mountain’s quintessential name, ‘Denali.’"
Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office to change the name of the mountain from Denali back to Mount McKinley, in honor of President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901.
"In 1917, the country officially honored President McKinley through the naming of North America’s highest peak. Yet after nearly a century, President Obama’s administration, in 2015, stripped the McKinley name from federal nomenclature, an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice," the executive order declares.
Trump's order directed the Interior secretary to "reinstate the name ‘Mount McKinley.’"
"The Secretary shall subsequently update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to reflect the renaming and reinstatement of Mount McKinley. The national park area surrounding Mount McKinley shall retain the name Denali National Park and Preserve," the order states.
The same order also directed the Interior secretary to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
The controversy over the name of the continent's tallest peak has persisted over the years, and Murkowski has been engaged in the debate for more than a decade.
She previously pushed measures regarding the mountain's name several times in the past, including one in 2015 for which Sullivan was the original cosponsor.
Interior Sec. Sally Jewell issued an order to change the name from Mount McKinley to Denali in 2015 during President Barack Obama's White House tenure.
"President Obama wants to change the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali after more than 100 years. Great insult to Ohio. I will change back!" Trump declared in an August 2015 tweet.
He asked about potentially changing the name while meeting with Murkowski and Sullivan, but the senators expressed their opposition, Sullivan, whose wife is Athabascan, recounted in 2017, according to adn.com.
If "you change that name back now, she's going to be really, really mad," the senator said he told Trump, according to the report. "So he's like, 'all right, we won't do that,'" Sullivan recalled.
Murkowski is one of the GOP senators who voted to convict Trump after the House impeached him in 2021 following the U.S. Capitol riot — but notably, the Senate vote, which was held after Trump had already departed from office, failed to clear the threshold necessary for conviction.
