The White House on Monday withdrew Scott Socha’s nomination to lead the National Park Service, a move that leaves the agency again without a Senate-confirmed director and continues a leadership gap that has persisted through President Donald Trump’s time in office. The decision comes as the park service has been shaken by firings that the administration has tied to a wider pledge to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
Socha, who had been nominated after serving as president for parks and resorts at Delaware North, said he was stepping away from consideration for the job for personal reasons. A White House spokesperson had previously described him as “totally qualified” to execute the president’s plans for the national park system, according to the Associated Press.
The National Park Service is currently overseen by acting director Jessica Bowron, the agency’s comptroller, rather than a permanent leader confirmed by the Senate. The Associated Press reported that the park service has operated without a confirmed director during Trump’s first term as well, with multiple acting directors leading the agency in the absence of Senate confirmation.
The nomination withdrawal also arrives amid repeated personnel changes at the agency. The Associated Press reported that thousands of employees have been fired or otherwise left the park service since Trump took office, and it described the nomination as part of a broader effort that has unsettled long-standing operations across the system.
Emily Douce, of the National Parks Conservation Association, said the next director will need to “undo the damage.” She also said it was “very unfortunate that our parks have gone more than a year without a permanent director at a time when they need strong, steady leadership the most,” framing the leadership void as particularly consequential while the agency continues to face staffing and budget pressures.
The administration’s budget proposal for next year would reduce the park service’s staffing to 9,200 employees, according to the Associated Press, which reported that figure would be down almost 30% compared with 2025 levels. The same report said the park service’s operating budget would be cut by more than $1 billion, to $2.2 billion, for the 2027 fiscal year that begins in October.
Lawmakers blocked similar cuts proposed for 2026, the Associated Press reported, after park supporters and former employees warned the proposal would have “effectively gutted” the agency. The story also said the administration has faced blowback for removing or planning to remove national park exhibits about slavery, climate change and the destruction of Native American culture, and it noted that a federal judge in February ordered an exhibit about nine enslaved people tied to George Washington to be restored at Washington’s former home in Philadelphia.
The Associated Press further reported that administration officials have said they are removing “disparaging” messages under an order issued by Trump last year, drawing criticism that the policy tries to whitewash U.S. history. It also said that under Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the park service has begun charging millions of international tourists $100 each to visit sites including Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, while putting Trump’s image on annual passes for U.S. citizens; the Associated Press reported that environmentalists have sued over the pass change.
As a result of Monday’s withdrawal, Socha’s departure resets the administration’s search for a new National Park Service director, even as the agency continues to operate under an acting leadership structure and remains the subject of ongoing disputes over staffing, exhibits and visitor policies.