WASHINGTON — On Thursday, hundreds of federal employees from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including weather forecasters, were fired, lawmakers and weather experts reported.
The layoffs, which took place in the afternoon, affected meteorologists who provide critical local forecasts through the National Weather Service offices nationwide. Sources indicated that the cuts were implemented in two rounds, one affecting around 500 employees and the second about 800, totaling roughly 10% of NOAA’s workforce.
Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist, revealed that the first round targeted probationary employees, including about 375 within the National Weather Service, which handles daily forecasts and hazard warnings.
These firings come amid broader efforts by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to reduce the size of the federal workforce, which President Donald Trump has criticized as inefficient and excessive. Thousands of probationary workers across various federal agencies have already been let go.
Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., expressed strong disapproval, stating: “Today, hundreds of employees at NOAA, including weather forecasters at the National Weather Service, were terminated without cause. This is unconscionable.” She added, “These are dedicated, hardworking Americans whose efforts help save lives and property from natural disasters. This decision will only endanger American lives.”
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., the ranking minority member of the House Natural Resources Committee, also condemned the layoffs, saying, “Hundreds of scientists and experts at NOAA have been let go.”
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, criticized the cuts on social media, calling them “spectacularly short-sighted” and warning that they would “deal a major self-inflicted wound to the public safety of Americans and the resiliency of the American economy to weather and climate-related disasters.”