Wildfire Funds for D.C. Cut from Bill

A bill that allocates funding to the U.S. Forest Service to fight wildfires in national forests no longer includes $2.8 million to fight any forest fires that might happen in Washington, D.C.

The District of Columbia doesn’t have any national forests — a fact pointed out this week by U.S. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. The Republican helped introduce a successful amendment to the bill to strip the $2.8 million.

Barrasso says it’s the first time either chamber of Congress has voted to overturn one of the Obama administration’s stimulus spending decisions. The change to the Department of Interior appropriations bill was made on the Senate floor.

Barrasso says the amendment is “a victory for common sense.”