Park Service Shelves About 1,500 Approved Maintenance Projects Worth $400 Million to Clear the Way for Trump's Freedom 250 Work

National Park Service employees were directed from Washington to move maintenance projects already approved for this year onto a new "low priority" list while work sought by the White House took precedence, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press and three officials who spoke anonymously. Roughly 1,500 low-priority items across more than 200 sites, estimated above $400 million, are expected to go undone.

The park service appears to be moving on at least $80 million in White House priorities, $52 million of it awarded, much of it in the capital. Sen. Angus King, ranking member of the Senate's National Parks Subcommittee, objected to "the White House priority list being tacked onto the top of that pyramid." The deferred-maintenance backlog has doubled over a decade to more than $24 billion.

Interior said many entries had been "mis-prioritized and were corrected," but declined to say which. With the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, officials said it is unclear when the shelved work will proceed.