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By Jeff Young
Environment and Sustainability Editor
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Staff in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, are bracing for a wave of mass firings, according to sources within the agency who told Newsweek that they have been told to prepare lists of recently hired personnel who might be cut to meet the Trump administration's goal to radically reduce government employment.
Current and former NOAA scientists and officials warn that large, indiscriminate cuts to the agency could have major consequences for weather forecasting, fisheries management and basic services to industries ranging from agriculture to aviation.
"This represents a threat to the personal safety of every American," former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad told Newsweek. Spinrad was the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere under President Joe Biden and served in NOAA and the Navy as a scientist under both Democratic and Republican administrations for decades.
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NOAA is best known for operating the National Weather Service, or NWS, and a network of meteorological equipment critical to weather forecasting. But the agency is also charged with managing the nation's fisheries, protecting marine species, supporting safe shipping channels and ports, and conducting basic science about how climate change affects the country's land and waters.
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Spinrad said widespread cuts to NOAA could have ripple effects on many sectors of the economy.
"I believe it compromises the security of property around the country," he said. "It would throw billions of dollars of economic developments into the garbage, quite honestly."
Spinrad said he calculated that the total budget for NOAA works out to roughly 6 cents a day per American, but it contributes invaluable services to critical industries worth many billions of dollars.
With a staff of about 12,000 worldwide, NOAA is active in every U.S. state and territory, and its work stretches from the ocean floor to outer space. NOAA operates the "hurricane hunter" flights that predict the course of cyclones and monitors solar flares for signs of dangerous electromagnetic storms that could cripple the nation's information infrastructure.
In a letter sent Wednesday to newly installed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell urged him to exempt the NWS from job cuts. Cantwell is the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
"Without NOAA's workforce, communities will not be prepared for the next big Nor'easter, hurricane, wildfire, or drought," Cantwell wrote. "NOAA's workforce keeps people alive and provides communities with the scientific support tools to protect their families and grow their businesses."
A communications officer at NOAA declined a request for comment.
Meteorologist Jeff Masters, co-founder of the popular weather site Weather Underground, was once a hurricane hunter with NOAA's team of scientists tracking severe storms. Masters said mass firings at the agency would "cause severe and long-lasting damage" to U.S. science, especially if the NWS is not exempted from cuts.
"This will likely result in increased loss of life and higher property damages," Masters told Newsweek via email. "With damaging extreme weather events increasing, NWS staff should be growing to keep pace."
Masters acknowledged that NOAA could likely identify areas of cost-saving in keeping with the Trump administration's goal of reducing government waste. But he said widespread job cuts such as those that have taken place at other government agencies would do far more harm than good.
"Sure, these organizations have inefficiencies, but this is like doing surgery with a chainsaw instead of a scalpel, without bothering to look at the X-rays beforehand," Masters said.
A scientist within NOAA who spoke with Newsweek on condition of anonymity described a tense atmosphere among colleagues awaiting word on their employment while being tasked with carrying out some of President Donald Trump's executive orders.
"Mostly we are busy scrubbing DEI and Gulf of Mexico references," the researcher said, referencing Trump's orders to end work related to diversity, equity and inclusion and to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America."
The researcher said they and colleagues have offered ideas to improve efficiency without arbitrary job cuts, "but nobody from DOGE asked," they said. "They think they know better."
DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, is the outside entity created by the Trump administration under the guidance of Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Janet Coit was formerly in charge of one of NOAA's lesser known but larger sections, the National Marine Fisheries Service, also called NOAA Fisheries.
The fisheries managers provide the science and regulatory enforcement that makes America's fishing fleet among the largest and most sustainable in the world. Commercial and recreational fishing in the U.S. supports 1.7 million jobs and generates more than $300 billion in annual sales and value-added activity, according to government data.
"I believe if the NOAA personnel were cut, you would see a cascading set of negative impacts," Coit told Newsweek. "While fishermen complain about regulation, as do many businesses, they also know that the regulation is what maintains the resource in the long term."
Without the fish stock assessments NOAA conducts and the support the agency provides for healthy marine ecosystems, fishermen would not know the real status of fish populations and consumers would not know if the fish they purchase were sustainably harvested.
"The disruption could have pretty significant economic impacts, and very quickly," Coit said. "Across the country, we have folks who are dependent on this resource."
Meanwhile, staff at NOAA await news about the possible cuts and have difficult kitchen table discussions with family about how to manage the expected loss of employment.
"We think we can keep our house," a NOAA scientist told Newsweek while assessing their likely financial future. But they said they will have to cut in other areas and "pray for no major medical expenses."
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