For those across the country that don’t deal with tornadoes. You probably won’t think this affects you much. However, Texans are keeping an eye on the changes going on at the NOAA.
The NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Now this regulatory agency does several things. Forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the US exclusive economic zone.
DOGE has been in the news recently for cuts across several government programs right now. The Department of Government Efficiency has been working hard to make sure the American taxpayers money is being spent the correct way. Currently, DOGE claims they have saved 65 billion dollars in American spending. This comes from a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.
Every day it seems like DOGE is making a headline for money being spent that they’re able to cut. The latest cut making headlines this morning is to the NOAA. Around 800 employees were terminated last night at the NOAA. Coming up in the next few months tornado season will really be ramping up in this part of the country. Just this week, they’re predicting an event in East Texas, going into Louisiana.
Timothy Gallaudet, a former Navy officer and oceanographer who served as acting administrator of NOAA during the first Trump administration, warned that weakening NOAA could “have national security and economic impacts that are really seemingly contradicting the administration’s priorities now.” The risks include disruptions to weather operations, marine shipping safety, and military activities.
Usually when DOGE makes a big move like this, an announcement is made on the X page for them. As of right now, they have not said why at least 800 employees have been terminated. Hopefully the remaining employees are still able to get us accurate models for the upcoming severe weather season.
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