NOAA set to slash jobs 'imminently'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

02/21/25 11:27 AM ET


Mass firings are set to hit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “imminently,” a source with knowledge told The Hill. The person, who asked to speak anonymously due to fear of reprisal, said the agency had not yet been subjected to the steep cuts announced elsewhere due to the then-pending confirmation of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

The Commerce Department oversees NOAA and the National Weather Service. Lutnick is set to be sworn in Friday afternoon. Many of the federal cuts thus far have targeted probationary workers, which includes recent hires but also those who have been recently promoted.

The source told The Hill that an original list of workers set to be fired comprised of new workers, except for veterans and Schedule A employees or noncompetitively appointed disabled workers. However, on Tuesday, the director and deputy director of NOAA were asked to add the excluded workers back on the list, the source added.

Lutnick denied in his confirmation hearing that he would seek to dismantle or privatize NOAA as Commerce secretary. However, Project 2025, the sweeping conservative governance blueprint published by the Heritage Foundation, calls for such a move, and associates of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were reportedly present at NOAA facilities earlier this month.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5157377-trump-administration-noaa-cuts-imminent/

[Evolve Dammit]

1. SOMEBODY STICK THIS ASSHOLES Sharpies where the sun don't shine.

[KatyaR]

2. ....

[Otto_Harper]

3. It appears that there is an immediate impact on NOAA sevices. **IMMEDIATE**

This is a screenshot of the NOAA weather radar map of the US. It would appear that there is an issue with the processing that provides a full map view. Unless there is snow occurring only in little circular storms around the NOAA weather radars, then something is amiss.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. That looks more like how clutter would appear around the dopplers

In some cases, depending on the time of day, it can be birds (or even insects) suddenly going aloft, and that will often show up as an "expanding ring" emanating from the center of the radar.

(am a weather hobbyist )

[IronLionZion]

5. Nobody needs to know the weather

it's not like we have hurricanes, polar vortex, wildfires, or anything else in our country. It's always sunny in MAGA lala land.

[LiberalArkie]

6. Turn off the Nexrad radars on their way out.

[turbinetree]

7. The entire aviation industry should walk off the job for three days .............if you do not have reliable

weather information ............people will get hurt or die................he does not have the personnel to cover this even if he calls out the military.............it is fact............ JFC............

[LudwigPastorius]

8. If you don't test for COVID, the number of cases goes down.

If you don't image hurricanes with satellites and radar, they aren't there.

[Blue_Roses]

9. Dammit.

I'm so sick of this shit.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. Trump administration slashes NOAA staff, fulfilling Project 2025 goal

A Democratic senator said the cuts could be “catastrophic” for the environment and the economy.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-administration-slashes-noaa-staff-fulfilling-project-2025-goal-rcna194223

In last year’s presidential election, voters might not have realized that they were voting for deep cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but as The New York Times reported, that’s what Americans are getting anyway.

The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science. The firings are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members, according to two people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. The notifications went out on Thursday afternoon.

The Washington Post reported that among the fired employees are those “responsible for producing critical weather forecasts, maintaining radar systems, gathering data from satellites and monitoring key commercial fisheries.”.....

As for why, exactly, this is a priority for the Republican administration, neither the White House nor the Department of Commerce, which oversees NOAA, have publicly shed light on the motivation for the cuts. That said, The Hill reported that the far-right Project 2025 blueprint called for “privatizing and reassigning” nearly all of the agency’s functions.

In fact, the document, published by the Heritage Foundation, specifically referred to NOAA as “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.”

In other words, NOAA officials provided the public with accurate information about the climate crisis; the authors of Project 2025 found those truths inconvenient; and now the Trump administration is undermining the agency in a way that’s likely to set it back years.

A Politico report noted last week that the White House’s “promised assault on federal climate policies” is advancing at a speed “that’s surprising even some of his supporters and critics — and could leave an impact on the planet’s future well after his presidency.”

That assault is ongoing.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. Trump and Elon Musk fired hundreds of employees who help protect us from the impacts of severe weather.

I live in hurricane country. I had Beryl pass right over my house which was weird (one minute strong winds and then utter calm). We need NOAA

Link to tweet

[BumRushDaShow]

12. I am a 55 year weather hobbyist and split time between here and my weather forum

I watch/track those hurricanes. We may end up having to rely on Canada's services as well as the UK's Met Office and the EU's Copernicus to pick up the environmental slack while we are under this nightmare.