The extent of the potential damage to weather forecasting and other key services provided by the agency is somewhat unclear — as NOAA and the Commerce Department that houses it have not disclosed how many people were cut or which offices they belonged to.
Nevertheless, a source with direct knowledge told The Hill that the original list of probationary employees submitted for dismissal comprised some 1,100 workers, and the original Thursday round of firings affected up to 800 people.
Speaking with reporters on Friday, Rick Spinrad, who led NOAA under the Biden administration, put the figure at at least 600.
Already, the weather service appeared to be seeing some impacts. The National Weather Service released a statement on Friday saying that weather balloon launches at its office in Kotzebue, Alaska, would be suspended indefinitely “due to a lack of … staffing.”
“That is less data. That data goes directly into our weather models,” said Tom Di Liberto, one of the employees who was let go from the agency this week, told The Hill in an interview.
Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), the sole meteorologist in Congress, said in an interview with The Hill that the firings are “going to put the lives of my constituents in danger, period, full stop.”
Sorensen said he was aware of at least one electrician who had been affected by the firing, which he said was a particular practical risk.
Spinrad said that all six of NOAA’s line offices were affected.
These offices are the National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Marine and Aviation Operation, National Ocean Service, Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research and National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.
Read more when the story runs online this weekend at TheHill.com.
