The Trump administration fired hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US’s outstanding climate research organization. The Guardian learned.
On Thursday afternoon, the Commerce Department emailed employees and sent them an email saying they would be blocked at the end of the day. Other government agencies have recently seen massive cuts.
The shootings affected employees, particularly on probation. This is a classification that applies to new hires or those promoted to move or new positions, accounting for around 10% of the agency’s workforce.
“Most of the probation workers in my office have been with the agency for over a decade and have taken a new position,” said one worker who was still working and spoke to the Guardian anonymously for fear of retaliation. “When we lose them, we lose not only the world-class work they do every day, but also decades of expertise and institutional knowledge.”
Another anonymous staff member called the Layoff Worker is called “a dedicated and hardworking civil servant who came to NOAA to save lives and keep the blue planet healthy.”
“These indiscriminate cuts are cruel and thoughtless,” the second worker said.
The second worker says it’s not just layoff employees who are harmed by the cut. Ordinary Americans relying on NOAA extreme weather forecasts, climate data and sustainably monitored fisheries will also suffer.
“The language cannot explain the impact it has on both NOAA and the country,” the employee said. “It’s just wrong.”
Andrew Rosenberg, former deputy director of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Services, said Thursday was a “sad day.”
“We have no plans or ideas about how we can continue to provide science and services, such as the weather, severe storms and events, the preservation and management of coastal and marine life,” he said. “None of these false justifications are far away, so this should be about efficiency, quality of work, or cost savings.”
Some of the people who received the emails were employed through Schedule A, but employment agencies can be used to connect with a wide range of candidates, including veterans and disabled people. Scheduled workers have a two-year probationary period, and are those employees, with less labor protection.
All probation employees at NOAA’s Environmental Modeling Center lost their jobs to improve weather, ocean and climate forecasts, and one employee posted on social media.
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen wrote Wednesday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, calling the massive layoffs within the Commerce Department “completely illegal.”
That same day, the Climate Nonprofit Coalition of Concern Scientists sent another letter to Lutnick, signed by more than 2,500 scientific experts calling for NOAA to maintain funds and staff.
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“This will cost America’s lives,” said Zoe Lofglen, a lawmaker and ranking members of the House Committee on Science and Space and Technology. Her comments were published along with Rep. Gabe Amo, a ranking member of the Environment Subcommittee, after news of the shooting was destroyed.
“By firing important staff who work tirelessly on behalf of Americans, President Trump and Elon Musk are politics in our national security and public security,” Amo said. “Leaving NOAA staffing shortages will inevitably lead to additional disruption and confusion. I call on them to rehire these civil servants just before the preventable tragedy strike.”
Lutnick assured Congress at his confirmation hearing that NOAA would not be dismantled under his watch. “It appears that Lutonic has been willing to lie to Congress and the American people, or has fallen into record-breaking time on the Trump Musk administration’s destructive agenda,” said Dr. Juan DeCollette Barreto, a senior social scientist at the Alliance of Scientists.
Rickspinlad, who served as NOAA administrator until January, said Cut was “at best it’s misguided and not inferior info.” At worst, he would be “at risky enough to the lives and property of Americans across the country,” he said.
Craig McLean, former director of NOAA Research, who worked for 40 years at the agency before retiring in 2022, called the shooting “ruthless, insulting, vengeful and offensive.”
“This country is compromised in safety, science and international status through these reckless and blind acts,” he said. “This is not my America.”
The Trump administration has not commented on the shooting.
