NOAA 3 926
SEE JRNL FAIL MEDIA COVERAGE CLIMATE AGW MEMORY HOLE VOUGHT
see ocean sensor dogebag pjt 2025 nutlick contract freeze
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guk
Noaa fires hundreds of climate workers after court clears way for dismissals
Workers had spent weeks in limbo amid legal rollercoaster but letters confirm block on terminations no longer in effect
Thu 10 Apr 2025
Letters went out to hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) on Thursday, informing them their jobs had been terminated – again.
The probationary employees, many who performed important roles at the US’s pre-eminent climate research agency, have spent weeks in limbo after being dismissed in late February, only to be rehired and put on administrative leave in mid-March following a federal court order.
“Well after about 3 weeks of reinstatement, I, along with other probationary employees at NOAA, officially got “re-fired” today,” Dr Andy Hazelton, a scientist who worked on hurricane modeling at Noaa posted on X. “What a wild and silly process this has been.”
The fired Noaa employees were among the roughly 16,000 people terminated across the federal workforce in a sweeping move by the Trump administration that targeted workers in “probationary” status. Some were categorized that way because they were new in their careers, but others had recently received promotions or been added full-time to agencies after years of contract or temporary work.
“The majority of probationary employees in my office have been with the agency for 10+ years and just got new positions,” said one worker who still had their job, and who spoke to the Guardian under the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal in February, when the firings first happened.
“If we lose them, we’re losing not just the world-class work they do day-to-day, but also decades of expertise and institutional knowledge.”
This week’s news caps a rollercoaster period for Noaa employees. On Tuesday, the US supreme court struck down the March court decision that said fired probationary workers must be rehired, ruling that the nonprofit groups who sued on behalf of the workers did not have legal standing.
The letters sent to Noaa staff, reviewed by the Guardian, were signed by John Guenther, acting general counsel of the US Department of Commerce, and consisted of two simple paragraphs: one reiterating that employees were reinstated and put in non-duty paid status, and a second explaining that the temporary restraining order protecting their jobs was no longer in effect.
“Accordingly, the department is reverting your termination action to its original effective date,” Guenther wrote, adding that fired employees would not receive any pay beyond their termination date.
It’s unclear whether those fired will receive all the pay they are owed. Hazelton told the Guardian that paychecks for the last two weeks have not been issued yet. His access to healthcare, which was terminated immediately, was never reinstated.
These firings are already hampering the agency’s ability to provide essential climate and weather intelligence. Noaa is also bracing for more cuts as leaders make moves to comply with Trump’s “reduction in force”, an order that could cull 1,029 more positions.
In an interview with the Guardian last month, Hazelton said the firings across the agency and the pressures felt by those still there will affect the outcome of the work. Vital work has slowed or stopped as teams try to navigate the chaos, along with the threat of severe budget cuts and political restrictions.
“It’s going to create problems across the board,” he said, adding that people are going to do their best but it will be a lot harder to achieve the mission. “It may be a slow process but the forecasts are going to suffer and as a result people will suffer.”
While the losses are expected to have a profound impact on the American public, it will be felt globally, too. Scientists and forecasters around the world depend on Noaa satellites, studies, and intelligence, including data-sharing that tracks severe weather across Europe, coordination for disaster response in the Caribbean, and monitoring deforestation and the effects of the climate crisis in the Amazon rainforest.
The official terminations also came just days after the White House pulled funding for the national climate assessment, which summarizes the effects of rising global temperatures on the US.
The crackdown on climate science comes as the dangers from extreme weather events and deadly billion-dollar disasters continue to rise. Experts say these cuts, which will do little to limit the federal government’s budget, will only add to the threats.
Among 800 positions cut were workers who track El Niño-La Niña weather patterns around the world, people who model severe storm risks, and scientists contributing to global understanding of what could happen as the world warms.
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https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/local/2025/04/29/could-doges-proposed-cuts-to-noaa-sink-weather-buoys-off-nc-sc/83119470007/
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MMA
Federal disaster reports under the Trump administration leave journalists to source climate explanations elsewhere
NASA and NOAA analyses still provide detailed meteorology, trends, and preparedness information while omitting explanations of human-caused warming that earlier federal accounts included
*Special* ProgramsClimate & Energy
Written by Evlondo Cooper
Published 09/16/26
On September 9, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that the contiguous United States had experienced its hottest summer in 132 years of records. Its public summary provided readers, including journalists, with detailed information about record temperatures and expanding drought, but it did not explain how human-caused warming contributed to the conditions it described.
The same pattern appears in NASA’s report on July’s western heat wave and NOAA’s analysis of the July 2025 Texas floods. Across these examples, federal agencies continued to provide detailed information about the meteorology, broken records, damage, and in some cases worsening long-term trends without explaining how climate change had increased those risks.
These omissions are not isolated. The Trump administration has also disrupted other federal sources of information the public relies on to understand climate risk. In April 2025, it terminated the contract supporting the coordinating office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which produces the National Climate Assessment. NOAA also stopped updating its billion-dollar disaster database, and Climate.gov stopped publishing after its entire staff was laid off.
Journalists have used that research to explain extreme weather. In October 2024, MSNOW’s (then-MSNBC’s) All In with Chris Hayes referenced NOAA’s billion-dollar disaster data during an interview with agency climatologist Adam Smith. Smith explained that billion-dollar disasters had become much more frequent since the 1980s. He described how climate change adds heat to the ocean and atmosphere, contributing to extreme weather — including heavier rainfall — and noted that communities’ exposure and vulnerability compound the damage.
The billion-dollar database, Climate.gov, and the assessment program are gone. The analyses that remain are as detailed as ever — what the reports examined here no longer explain is why.
Federal climate analyses can shape reporting even when they do not appear in a published story or on-air segment. Journalists may consult them to understand an event, prepare for interviews, identify relevant questions, or check their own understanding before writing or going on air. When those accounts do not explain how climate change is contributing to the extreme weather they describe, reporters have to find that explanation elsewhere, and it may never make it into the published story.
NASA’s 2026 heat-wave analysis omitted the climate explanation previously included in its 2024 analysis
The western heat wave described in NASA’s July 15 report struck when a heat dome settled over the northern Rockies. NASA reported all-time temperature records at sites in Montana, Wyoming, and Utah, along with a tenfold increase in the rate of heat-related emergency department visits across the Mountain states during the July heat.
NASA explained how the high-pressure system trapped hot air and suppressed clouds and precipitation. Its account also placed the event within a longer-term trend, noting that “heat waves like this one have become more frequent in the United States in recent decades” and that summer heat waves “roughly doubled in number between 1980 and 2023, increasing from an average of two to four per month.”
NASA omitted the climate explanation despite contemporaneous analyses linking the same mid-July 2026 heat wave to human-caused warming. Climate Central found that human-caused climate change made the extreme heat “at least three times more likely” across large parts of the western and northern United States from July 13 through July 15, affecting more than 118 million people west of the Mississippi.
Climate Central later found that nearly half of the contiguous United States experienced temperatures “made at least five times more likely by climate change” during the mid-July heat wave.
The omission was not limited to 2026. In its June 26, 2025, account of a heat wave across the Midwest and Northeast, NASA likewise described the heat dome, broken temperature records, dangerous humidity, and widespread heat warnings, but it did not explain how global warming contributed to the extreme heat.
During a comparable eastern heat wave in June 2024, NASA combined descriptions of the meteorology, broken records, health effects, and long-term heat trends with a direct climate explanation. The agency noted at the time that the “frequency and intensity of heatwaves have increased in recent decades because of the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They expect these increases to continue in the future.”
NOAA’s 2025 Texas flood analysis did not address how warming is changing extreme rainfall
In July 2025, catastrophic flash floods swept through the Texas Hill Country, including communities along the Guadalupe River. By July 23, the reported death toll from the floods was at least 137 people.
NOAA’s analysis, first published on August 11, 2025, described the conditions that set the stage for the flooding, including prolonged drought and an influx of tropical moisture, before detailing the intense rainfall and damage that followed. The report did not connect the extreme rainfall to human-caused climate change.
But that climate connection was well established when the Texas floods struck in 2025. In a July 9, 2025, article about the floods published by The Texas Tribune, University of South Carolina climate scientist Claudia Benitez-Nelson explained that warmer air holds more moisture, enabling heavier rainfall. “Climate change is turning ordinary weather into these disasters,” she said. Climate Central also explained how global warming contributes heavier rainfall.
Earlier federal accounts of extreme flooding did make that connection, though. In an August 3, 2022, report on catastrophic flooding in St. Louis and eastern Kentucky, NASA explained that “once-rare events are becoming more likely as Earth’s atmosphere warms and can hold more moisture.”
Journalists are left to supply the climate context federal accounts omit
From June 29 through July 26, 2026, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired 194 segments about three major heat events without mentioning climate change, according to a Media Matters analysis. These events included the mid-July heat dome described by NASA. Viewers received forecasts, warnings, public health information, and reports of broken records without an explanation of how human-caused warming was intensifying heat.
Federal climate information has previously helped journalists provide that missing context.
During the July 12, 2023, episode of CNN’s Early Start, a correspondent report used the National Climate Assessment to explain how extreme flooding events are becoming more frequent and devastating. A few months later, a November 14 CBS Evening News segment about the National Climate Assessment discussed why the effects of climate change in the United States were “far-reaching and worsening,” highlighted the growing frequency of billion-dollar weather disasters, and connected U.S. greenhouse gas emissions primarily to the burning of fossil fuels.
Journalists can obtain climate explanations from other sources, including attribution researchers who provide rapid, event-specific analysis about how global warming is driving extreme weather. But that work does not replace climate context in federal accounts that reporters may already be consulting as authoritative background. When those accounts leave the connection out, more of the explanatory work shifts to newsrooms, where journalists must first recognize the gap before seeking out additional research and integrating it into their reporting.
If that additional reporting does not happen, audiences can receive detailed coverage of worsening heat, floods, and other disasters without understanding why those risks are increasing. The event, the damage, and even the worsening trend can remain visible while the human cause disappears.
//
08/06/26
08/28/26
06/29/26
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talk
I am concerned with the information in the infobox section "Department of Government Efficiency involvement" being sourced entirely to DOGE data directly from its website. Multiple sources have described DOGE as regularly making inaccurate, false, and misleading statements of contract terminations on its website, a fact made clear in this article by putting the word "claimed" to preface the alleged cuts. However, taking DOGE's word at face value and putting it in the infobox likely violates WP:PRIMARY and misleads readers by failing to mention that such data may be inaccurate or unreliable. I have added the word "claimed" to the infobox to hopefully stress this point further. More reliable, secondary sources need to be used rather than pulling directly from DOGE's website. BootsED (talk) 00:27, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
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wow wiki 9 26
Following the second inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, and the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on January 20, 2025, several major changes occurred at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including hundreds of employees being terminated, dozens of federal contracts and leases being terminated, and the enactment of executive orders which affected the operations of NOAA.
The operations of the National Weather Service (NWS) were affected, with several offices stopping weather balloon launches, and NOAA databases and websites went offline. The National Weather Service was also the target of domestic terrorism threats for conspiracy theories regarding weaponizing the weather.
Federal employee buyouts, resignations, and terminations
See also: 2025 United States federal mass layoffs
On February 27, 2025, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) abruptly terminated around 880 employees, over 7.3% of the total staff from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Before the terminations, NOAA had approximately 12,000 employees that included 6,773 scientists and engineers.[2][5][6][7]^ Shortly after the firings, William Alsup, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that the OPM "had no authority to order the firings of probationary employees".[2]
Rick Spinrad, the former NOAA Administrator who was picked by former president Joe Biden, stated firings occurred at the National Hurricane Center and Storm Prediction Center.[5]^ Spinrad stated 25% of the NOAA Environmental Modeling Center was terminated.[5]^ Congressman Jared Huffman responded to the firings by saying the entire American public "depend on NOAA for free, accurate forecasts, severe weather alerts, and emergency information".[2]^
Daniel Swain, a scientist at the University of California, in response to the firings said, "Most or all private weather companies in US (including forecasts that you see on TV or your favorite app) are built directly atop backbone of taxpayer-funded instrumentation, data, predictive modeling, & forecasts provided by NOAA".[2]^ On March 5, 113 members of the United States Congress sent a letter to the United States Department of Commerce to "express profound outrage" to the termination of 880 NOAA employees.[8]^ The 113 members of Congress went on to say:
"The termination of hundreds of dedicated scientists, meteorologists, and ocean experts, particularly from the National Weather Service, is a reckless decision that puts American lives at risk, undermines critical climate research now and in the future, and threatens the economic well-being of communities across the nation...The assertion that these layoffs will somehow improve “efficiency” is not only misleading but outright dangerous. Efficiency is not only measured in dollars saved but more importantly in lives protected and disasters mitigated. NOAA saves money and American lives. In 2020, NOAA’s hurricane forecasting saved approximately $5 billion per major hurricane landfall. NOAA’s mission is to provide accurate, science-driven information that helps communities prepare for and respond to environmental threats. A reduction in personnel cripples the very infrastructure that Americans depend on to withstand climate-driven catastrophes."
— 113 members of the United States Congress[8]^
On March 6, over 1,000 people protested outside of the NOAA office complex in Boulder, Colorado and on March 7, a protest occurred outside of the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma; both to protest the 880 NOAA terminations.[9][10]^
On March 8, The New York Times reported at least 1,000 more NOAA employees were set to be terminated, downsizing NOAA's pre-terminations workforce by 20%.[11]^
Throughout the day on March 8, several terminated NOAA employees posted on X and Bluesky they were rehired by the Department of Commerce.[12][13]^ Andy Hazelton, a former physical scientist at the NOAA Environmental Modeling Center (EMC), reported none of the EMC terminated employees were rehired.[14]^ However, on April 10, reports came out that some probationary employees had been "re-fired" after being placed on administrative leave in mid-March.[15]^
The letter sent to all NOAA terminated probationary employees on May 7
On April 22, NOAA approved the deferred resignations or buyouts of 1,029 NOAA employees, which was offered by President Donald Trump to all U.S. government employees on January 28, 2025.[3]^
On May 7, the Department of Commerce (DOC) sent a letter to all 880 probationary employees that were fired on February 27 and those rehired and refired on April 10.[16]^ The letter stated its issuance to the fired probationary employees was ordered by Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The letter stated Judge Alsup determined the probationary employees were not fired based on the initial firing reasonings of "performance or fitness based" but was rather "part of a government-wide mass termination".[16]^ John Guenther, the Department of Commerce's acting General Counsel stated in the letter, "the Department believes it to be both legally and factually erroneous" on employees not being fired based on "performance or fitness based" reasonings, and that the DOC "intends to rigorously defend its actions as this matter continues through litigation".[16]^
On May 30, the White House released that only 850 probationary employees from the entire Department of Commerce were fired, not that 880 were fired from NOAA, a single branch of the Department of Commerce.[1]^
Effects of the terminations
- Upper-air sounding sites status after cuts:
Operational
Reduced
Closed
A weather balloon launch station maintained by the National Weather Service in Alaska was forced to cease launches due to the terminations resulting in staff shortages.[7]^ The NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), a branch of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research announced the terminations resulted in a staff shortage and the office would be taking an "indefinite hiatus".[17][7][18]^ Nicole Rice, an employee at the GLERL who was terminated reported 20% of the GLERL office was terminated.[18]^ Axios reported that one of the "deepest of NOAA's cuts was to the Office of Space Commerce" (OSC).[7]^ Researchers, including dual-role University of Oklahoma (OU)-federal researchers at the National Weather Center, located on the OU campus were terminated, which included students in the OU School of Meteorology.[19]^ Ten employees were fired from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University.[20]^
On March 4, the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky cancelled their student volunteer program and moved to "suspend new arrangements for prospective meteorology students to shadow at our office" due to the terminations.[21]^ The National Weather Service office in Boston, Massachusetts, had over 36% of its staff terminated, leaving only seven meteorologists, four less than required for minimal staffing to run the 24/7 office.[22]^ On March 7, the National Weather Service offices in Albany, New York, and Gray, Maine, stopped launching weather balloons due to staffing issues from the terminations.[23]^ The offices in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, also stopped launching weather balloons on March 20 due to staff shortages.[24]^ On March 31, the NWS provided a complete list of offices across the country affected by the cancellation or reduction of weather balloon launches (image to the right).[25]^ The terminations are expected to cause a loss in the ability to predict events such as blizzards and tornadoes, not only affecting the U.S. but neighboring Canada as well.[26]^ On March 31, U.S. Representative Mike Flood visited the National Weather Service office in Omaha, Nebraska, saying he would work to restore weather balloon launches at the office.[27]^
On May 2, CNN reported there were 30 National Weather Service offices without a lead meteorologist. It was also reported that the National Weather Service office in Goodland, Kansas was the first NWS office no longer operating 24/7 and that "about a dozen more" are likely to stop 24/7 service as well. CNN also reported there were more than 90 vacancies for NOAA NEXRAD-radar technicians and repairmen jobs.[28]^
Involvement of DOGE
NOAA, at the recommendation of DOGE, terminating a cooperative agreement with the University of Maine
On February 4, 2025, The Guardian reported employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had entered the headquarters of the NOAA in Silver Spring, Maryland, reporting "they apparently just sort of walked past security and said: 'Get out of my way,' and they're looking for access for the IT systems, as they have in other agencies".[29]^ ABC News reported on February 6 that DOGE employees had gained access to the NOAA computer systems. Staff from the NOAA Information Technology group and the Department of Commerce attempted to keep the operatives from the systems according to security protocols, but the operatives defied authorized security staff and forcefully entered the facilities.[29]^ Two Democratic Congress members characterized DOGE's presence in NOAA systems as "hackers". NOAA staff noted that the actions of the operatives could directly cause risk to human life by hindering NOAA and National Weather Service operations.[30][29]^ ABC also reported that operatives were also looking for anything connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on bulletin boards and were inspecting bathroom signs to ensure compliance with Trump's executive orders.[30]^
On February 12, Grist reported that the Trump administration started to shrink the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),[31]^ nearly 170 employees at the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights were placed on paid administrative leave.[32]^ On March 2, Ryan Maue, the chief scientist for NOAA during the first presidency of Donald Trump,[33]^ suggested on X that the United States House of Representatives should redirect all NOAA funds saved by DOGE to the National Weather Service.[34][35]^
On March 9, The Salt Lake Tribune reported the wife of Brent Pounds, a former officer for the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, was assisting DOGE and was giving notes to Elon Musk.[36]^
NOAA contract involvement
On February 17, 2025, DOGE released the names of 1,127 federal contracts spanning 39 federal departments and agencies, including the NOAA, that DOGE says had been terminated.[37]^ A Wall Street Journal analysis of these over 1,000 contracts found inaccuracies of DOGE's reported savings, including counting contracts multiple times, listing contracts that have already been paid as savings, and misrepresenting potential savings based on contract limits rather than actual spending.[38]^ On February 24, 2025, DOGE released more documents, with the total nearing 2,300 contracts released. The Associated Press found that "nearly 40%" of the terminated contracts would not save the government any money.[39]^ On March 1, NOAA, at the recommendation of DOGE, terminated the University of Maine's multi-million-dollar Maine Sea Grant, saying "it has been determined that the program activities proposed to be carried out in Year 2 of the Maine Sea Grant Omnibus Award are no longer relevant to the focus of the Administration’s priorities and program objectives". This grant termination has not been announced by DOGE.[40]^
As of June 29, 2025, DOGE released 196 NOAA-specific contracts it claims to have terminated, partially terminated, or interacted with, for a total contract value of $133,927,153.01, and a claimed savings of $42,481,923.88.[4][41]^ On May 30, 2025, the White House reported DOGE terminated a $5.9 million Department of Commerce contract for "environmental consulting support services", and from that termination it was reported DOGE saved the federal government $613 million.[1]^ This contract termination has not yet been reported by DOGE yet.[4]^ In total, the DOGE contract terminations eliminated 0.3846% of the National Weather Service (NWS) budget.[4]^ Below is an incomplete list of NOAA-specific contracts DOGE terminated, partially terminated, or interacted with.
| NOAA department | Contract value | Claimed savings | Description/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOS | $163,478 | $9,800 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract with Elevate USA Inc. for "DEIA training" for the National Ocean Service (NOS).[42][43]^ |
| NMFS | $421,548 | $366,000 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "DEIA support services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[44]^ |
| NMFS | $348,400 | $164,840 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "DEIA support services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service's Human Capital Management Office (NMFS HCMO).[45]^ |
| NMFS | $1,681,746 | $1,034,304 | DOGE announced the partial termination of a contract for the National Marine Fisheries Service's "first-ever national Equity and Environmental Justice (EEJ) Strategy to guide the agency as it focuses on serving all communities more equitably and effectively.[46]^ |
| OAR | $106,250 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) for "non-personal service for JEDI training".[47]^ The company contracted by NOAA, The Avarna Group LLC, has a company expiration date of January 6, 2026.[48]^ |
| OAR | $300,000 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research for study on "diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, accessibility, and justice on the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Independent Science Studies (NASISS)".[49]^ |
| NWS | $990,087 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for an "organizational climate assessment" for the National Weather Service (NWS) on February 13, 2025.[50][51]^ On February 3, prior to the termination, NOAA, at the recommendation of DOGE, modified the contract's value down to $944,319.[52]^ |
| OAR | $439,282 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for a "study on equitable distribution of fisheries management" for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.[53]^ |
| OAR | $9,900,000 | $0 | DOGE announced the partial termination of a contract for "strategic foresight and performance management consultant services" for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.[54]^ According to HigherGov, the contract was for "administrative management and general management consulting services" with "human resources". The contract started on September 29, 2024, and was originally set to end September 29, 2029, prior to DOGE's termination on February 10, 2025.[55]^ |
| NMFS | $184,000 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract that would provide "training on equity and environmental justice" to the National Marine Fisheries Service. Per the receipt released by DOGE, it was "last modified" in September 2024.[56]^ |
| OAR | $27,000 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract with an Australian company to "revise and update the Atlantis Ecosystem model to support NOAA's Earth System Model framework to project the response of fishes and food webs under scenarios of future climate change and invasive species" for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Per the receipt released by DOGE, it was "last modified" in September 2024.[57]^ |
| OAR | $500,000 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract with the National Academy of Sciences for a "study on drought and climate change" for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Per the receipt released by DOGE, it was "last modified" in June 2024.[58]^ According to HigherGov, the contract was for a two-year study being conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, which was set to end on June 30, 2026, prior to the termination in February 2025. HigherGov also stated that the study was already "100% funded", but was only "39.0% completed" at the time of termination.[59]^ |
| OAR | $643,158 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract to provide "science related communication services" to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. The termination reason stated by DOGE was that the "company is associated with others not in-line with the President's Agenda".[60]^ |
| OAR | $643,880 | $107,313 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract to provide "science related communication services" to the NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO). The termination reason stated by DOGE was that the "company is associated with others not in-line with the President's Agenda".[61]^ |
| NMFS | $3,204,694 | $2,598,174 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract to provide "video and digital media communications support, video production, & podcasts production" to the National Marine Fisheries Service.[62]^ NOAA released that the contract was "video production, photography, and digital media support" because NOAA needed to "needed to increase effectiveness and efficiency in communicating with target audiences, including Congress". NOAA also stated this contract was "critical to supporting the agency’s overall strategic communications effort".[63]^ The contract was originally set to end on September 30, 2029, prior to DOGE's termination recommendation on April 1, 2025.[64]^ |
| OAR | $96,639 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the University of Illinois to "receive, review, and manage data" for the World Data Center and to "establish best practices for data and metadata formatting" for the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization.[65]^ |
| NWS | $199,867 | $0 | DOGE announced the modification of a National Weather Service (NWS)-funded contract from For Your Information, Inc. due to the contracting company being an "office of facilities staffing analysis". The released receipt by DOGE stated the modification was to "extend period of performance by 6 months".[66]^ |
| OAR | $36,805 | $5,257 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "coaching services for multiple staff transitioning to a supervisory position" in the NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory through June 2025.[67]^ |
| OCAO | $80,922 | $55,998 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the NOAA Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (OCAO) for "archibus and builder tools, training, and development" from Golden Wolf, LLC.[68]^ |
| OAR | $140,000 | $105,000 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract that was "to provide NOAA with a gold standard partnership at the annual Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) Conference".[69]^ |
| NMFS | $277,521 | $130,490 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the "development of strategic and implementation plans" for the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.[70]^ |
| NMFS | $249,977 | $146,322 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for an "EEJ project cultural liaison" for the NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office.[71]^ |
| OAR | $466,884 | $158,625 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for an "outreach coordinator on the science, engineering and technical support services" for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.[72]^ |
| NOAA | $567,840 | $189,280 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for NOAA' Nursing Mother Program Support.[73]^ |
| NOS | $846,483 | $227,750 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "program office coordination and operations support services" for the National Ocean Service.[74]^ |
| OAR | $590,273 | $446,920 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "science, engineering, and technical support services" and "other environmental services" from FedWriters, Inc. for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.[75]^ |
| NOAA | $1,052,914 | $631,748 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "project and program management" for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Per the receipt released by DOGE, the contract was "last modified" in September 2023.[76]^ |
| OAR | $2,014,381 | $1,073,496 | DOGE announced the deobligation of $1,073,496 from NOAA's Uncrewed Systems Research Transition Office (UxSRTO), managed by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.[77][78]^ In July 2023, NOAA's UxSRTO reported they had found "no significant impact for the funding, procurement, and operation of NOAA small uncrewed aircraft systems", and the UxSRTO program was shut down by the OAR in March 2024.[79][80]^ |
| NOS | $2,383,700 | $1,854,912 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "scientific and technical support services for spatial planning" for NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS).[81]^ This contract was over 10.5% of the total NCCOS budget.[82]^ |
| OAR | $199,160 | $132,210 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "nonpersonal services to complete manuscript presenting updated pCO2 climatology" from Columbia University's trustees for the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML).[83]^ According to HigherGov, this contract was for Columbia University to do "monitoring, quality control, analysis, and presentation of ocean partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) observations collected as part of the NOAA Surface water pCO2 measurements from ships program". This contract started on June 30, 2022, and was originally set to end on June 30, 2025, prior to DOGE's termination on March 7, 2025.[84]^ |
| NMFS | $148,494 | $74,864 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "administrative support services" for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service's California Coastal Office (CCO).[85]^ |
| NWS | $35,842 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract where the Urethane Products Corporation would provide metal equipment manufacturing and equipment testing for the National Weather Service's National Data Buoy Center (NDBC).[86]^ According to HigherGov, this contract was for the creation, first tests, and delivery of bridles and buoy masts for the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean project, for the National Data Buoy Center. This contract started on July 8, 2024, and ended December 24, 2024, and all funds had been paid prior to the termination of the already ended contract.[87]^ |
| OAR | $22,018,255.42 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences" for the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).[88]^ On January 30, 2025, NOAA, at the recommendation of DOGE, modified the contract to "add funding" and "add to increase travel funding" by 4%.[89]^ On February 6, 2025, the contract was again modified at DOGE's recommendation, to "partially terminate" the contract, with the contract's conclusion date being changed from May 31, 2026, to May 31, 2025.[89]^ According to HigherGov, this contract was actually an extension of a previous contract for the NOAA Climate Program Office, indicating DOGE added funding to the NOAA Climate Program Office.[90][89]^ |
| NMFS | $216,382.54 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for IT support services for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.[91]^ |
| OAR | $744,239.60 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the NOAA Quantitative Observing System Assessment Program (QOSAP), managed by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).[92]^ |
| OAR | $1,035,899.10 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for administrative support services for the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories (ESRL), a branch of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).[93]^ |
| OAR | $2,523,441.24 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "science, engineering, and technical support services" for the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.[94]^ In April 2025, HigherGov reported this contract was not terminated, but was only modified "to remove and update clauses per government policy", and that this contract will end September 14, 2026. HigherGov also reported that $399,900 from this contract, was paid "to provide personnel in support of NOAA", prior to the recommendations from DOGE to modify the contract on February 27, 2025.[95]^ |
| NOS | $14,999 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract between the NOAA National Ocean Service and the Sponsorship Chesapeake Alliance.[96]^ |
| NOS | $14,999 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract between the NOAA National Ocean Service and the National Society of Black Physicists, Inc.[97]^ |
| NMFS | $97,096.78 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the Sprout Social, social media manager account of the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service's, because there was an "increase in license price" for the "advanced plan".[98]^ According to HigherGov, all funds for this "all-in-one social media management" contract were paid on August 30, 2024, and cancelling the contract saved the government $0.[99]^ |
| NMFS | $966,066.66 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "administrative management and general management consulting services" and two "media specialists" for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC). DOGE stated this contract was cancelled due to Executive Order 14222, which was signed by President Donald Trump on February 26, 2025.[100]^ This contract is part of a larger umbrella contract for International Business Sales & Services Corporation to do $25 million in "business admin services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[101]^ According to HigherGov, all funds for this contract for a "media specialist" were paid on February 11, 2025, and cancelling the contract saved the government $0.[102]^ |
| NMFS | $223,832.80 | $113,571 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract to pay a "media specialist" for "support services" for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC). DOGE stated this contract was cancelled due to Executive Order 14222, which was signed by President Donald Trump on February 26, 2025.[103]^ This contract is part of a larger umbrella contract for International Business Sales & Services Corporation to do $25 million in "business admin services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[101]^ |
| OAR | $5,913,153.12 | $229,341 | DOGE announced the partial termination of contract for Earth Resources Technology, Inc. to provide NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) with "environmental consulting support services". DOGE also stated this contract was terminated as a result of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump for "radical transparency about wasteful spending".[104]^ |
| NOAA | $50,000 | $20,000 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for NOAA to co-sponsor the ASIES Conference, hosted by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.[105]^ |
| NOAA | $462,500 | $102,500 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for NOAA to co-sponsor the WOC STEM Conference, hosted by the Career Communications Group, Inc..[106]^ |
| NESDIS | $3,448,981 | $1,468,939 | DOGE announced the partial termination of a contract for NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to receive "consulting services" from The Mitre Corporation. DOGE also stated this contract was terminated as a result of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump for "radical transparency about wasteful spending".[107]^ |
| NMFS | $418,382 | $160,804 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) training for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[108]^ |
| OMAO | $162,350–186,800 | $24,425 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "support outreach and recruiting of hard to fill seagoing professional mariner positions for NOAA seagoing research vessels".[109]^ According to HigherGov, DOGE interacted with the contract three times. On March 24, 2025, DOGE deobligated $49,000 from the contract as NOAA was paying to advertise to Pacific Maritime Magazine and Fishermen's News, both of which are "no longer being published". DOGE then terminated the contract on April 3. On April 22, DOGE reduced the already terminated contract’s value from $186,800 to $162,350, saying it was for "deobligation". The $162,350 is the total contract value released by DOGE, despite the contact being terminated at a value of $186,800.[110]^ |
| NMFS | $33,583.31 | $5,416.69 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "graphics illustration for fish passage design" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[111]^ |
| NMFS | $744,030 | $196,106 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "NWFSC leadership competency consulting and training" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). DOGE stated this contract was cancelled due to Executive Order 14222, which was signed by President Donald Trump on February 26, 2025.[112]^ |
| NMFS | $71,209 | $36,217 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to be on the CEB Risk Management Leadership Council.[113]^ |
| NOS | $3,146,250 | $2,776,676.88 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract "for CPA consulting services for cost documentation packages to remove indirect rate development" for the NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS). DOGE stated this contract was cancelled due to Executive Order 14222, which was signed by President Donald Trump on February 26, 2025.[114]^ |
| NWS | $77,567 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "appropriation law and program management training services" for the National Weather Service (NWS). The contract concluded on April 30, 2025, despite DOGE announcing they terminated the contract on May 5, 2025.[115]^ DOGE then announced two weeks later that they reterminated this contract on May 19, 2025, indicating it was never terminated back on May 5.[4][41]^ |
| NMFS | $74,600.40 | $60,228.12 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "translations, interpretation, and foreign language recording services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[116]^ |
| NMFS | $7,288 | $0 | DOGE announced the extension of a contract for a "bioinformatic DNA sequence analysis" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife based out of UEI College.[117]^ |
| NESDIS | $4,855,014.70 | $3,749,875.35 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for the cloud servers for the NOAA Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS) Cooperative Observer Program (COOP). According to the receipt released by DOGE, this contract termination was approved by NOAA employee Ronald Banzon.[118]^ |
| NMFS | $159,030.85 | $68,306.40 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "video support services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[119]^ |
| NMFS | $176,781 | $75,924 | DOGE announced the termination of the ten different Seabird Necropsy Training Seminars, hosted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) at the University of Washington campus.[120]^ |
| NMFS | $88,287.60 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "audio transcription services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). DOGE also released that the termination of this contract cost the U.S. federal government $20,000, and there was no savings from the termination.[121]^ |
| NMFS | $169,782.80 | $85,728 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "non-personal services for aquaculture science tech" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).[122]^ |
| NMFS | $10,034 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "snow removal/salt" services for the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) branch in Falmouth, Massachusetts.[123]^ |
| NMFS | $20,160 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "charter vessel services" for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to "capture and tag Chinook salmon".[124]^ |
| NMFS | $44,292.50 | $950 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for a Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a branch of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to "study fleet data collection and reporting services for cooperative research". In the comments regarding this contract's termination, DOGE stated they funded $700 "for whole fish collections".[125]^ |
| NMFS | $45,792.64 | $1,023.35 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for a Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a branch of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to "study fleet data collection and reporting services for cooperative research".[126]^ |
| NMFS | $57,181.10 | $1,100 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for a Northeast Fisheries Science Center, a branch of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to "study fleet data collection and reporting services for cooperative research".[127]^ |
| NWS | $60,238.21 | $0 | DOGE announced the termination of a contract for "two replacement Kaeser compressors" for the National Weather Service Weather Forecasting Office (NWS WFO) in Baltimore/Washington. DOGE stated this contract was terminated on May 14, 2025.[128]^ |
| NESDIS | $27,189.40 | $20,159.60 | DOGE announced the termination of AT&T "cellular service" for the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) headquarters office in Silver Spring, Maryland. This contract was terminated by a DOGE employee working for the Department of Commerce under the pseudonym "RPRICE".[129]^ |
| NWS | $4,370,949.08 | $0 | On June 3, 2025, DOGE announced the termination of funding for the "program management" of the National Weather Service's Office of Observations. The contract termination notes included it was terminated for being "wasteful spending". DOGE announced this contract was valued at $1,011,966.36 and that the U.S. federal government saved $0 by terminating the contract. According to HigherGov, this contract was actually worth $4,370,949.08, and DOGE paid over $3.35 million just to terminate the contract. DOGE also claimed the contract was "unused funds" as it was an "expired contract". HigherGov released the contract's expiration date was March 31, 2028.[4][41][130][131]^ |
| OAR | $250,000 | $125,000 | DOGE announced the termination of funding for the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research's (OAR) "CarbonTracker Program" at Harvard University and for "environmental consulting" by Harvard University. DOGE stated this contract was cancelled due to Executive Order 14151, which was signed by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025.[132]^ |
| NESDIS | $3,879,930.61 | $1,491,572.96 | On June 29, DOGE announced the termination of "cloud costing and data dissemination" for the NOAA Office of Satellite Ground Services (OSGS), a branch of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS).[133]^ |
| OAR | $4,738,043.16 | $985,687.16 | On June 29, DOGE announced the termination of funding for the NOAA Earth Systems Integration Board (formerly Weather, Water, and Climate Board), a committee of the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research's (OAR) based in Silver Spring, Maryland.[134]^ |
Grant terminations
On April 14, 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency announced that a grant from NOAA to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was terminated on March 31, 2025, and that details regarding the grant, including its description and total value were "unavailable".[4]^
A month later on May 26, DOGE announced it was terminating the federal grant funding for the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System (CIMES), one of the 16 cooperative institutes jointly owned and operated by the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and Princeton University. DOGE announced that three separate grants for CIMES would be terminated on June 30, 2025: one for $45.56 million, a second for $5.18 million, and a third grant whose information was redacted entirely.[4][135][136]^
Lease terminations
On March 3, 2025, The Verge & Axios reported leaked information from DOGE saying, NOAA was planning to terminate the building leases for the National Centers for Environmental Prediction's building in College Park, Maryland, which also houses the Environmental Modeling Center and the Weather Prediction Center, and the Radar Operations Center's building on the University of Oklahoma's campus in Norman, Oklahoma.[137][138]^ On March 5, M. Scott Carter, the chief political reporter for The Oklahoman, falsely reported "the National Weather Center is among many Oklahoma offices that have been included on a Department of Government Efficiency list of federal buildings to be closed".[139]^ On March 17, ABC News, reporting from the word of an anonymous NOAA spokesperson, stated the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), located in National Weather Center, was set to be closed by DOGE.[140][4]^
On March 5, 2025, DOGE announced the termination of 19 various NOAA building leases.[4][41]^ On March 19, DOGE reinstated two of the leases, leaving only 17 NOAA building leases set to be terminated.[4]^ On May 3, DOGE reinstated two more leases, leaving only 15 NOAA building leases set to be terminated.[4]^ On May 26, DOGE reinstated seven more leases, leaving only 8 NOAA building leases set to be terminated.[4]^ On June 29, DOGE re-terminated one of the leases they reinstated previously, leaving 9 NOAA building leases set to be terminated.[4]^
| NOAA branch | Location | Annual lease cost | Claimed savings | Description/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOAA OLE | Seward, Alaska | $22,665 | $24,554–24,590 | DOGE announced the termination of a 922 square feet (85.7 m2) office space for the NOAA's Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement in Seward, Alaska.[141]^ On May 3, two months after the lease was terminated, DOGE announced that their savings from the lease being terminated had increased from $24,554 to $24,590, however, the annual lease cost was still $22,665.[4]^ On May 26, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| MMHRSP | Juneau, Alaska | $20,520 | $1,710 | DOGE announced the termination of a 1,595 square feet (148.2 m2) office space for Dr. Rachel Dziuba with the NOAA Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program (MMHRSP).[142][141]^ On May 26, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| NOAA MNMS | Newport News, Virginia | $17,890 | $5,963–6,911 | DOGE announced the termination of a 911 square feet (84.6 m2) office space for NOAA in Hampton, Virginia. This was actually a lease termination for the NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary in Newport News, Virginia.[4]^ On May 3, two months after the lease was terminated, DOGE announced that their savings from the lease being terminated had increased from $5,963 to $6,911, however, the annual lease cost was still $19,793.[4]^ |
| NOAA CFLSIO | Seffner, Florida | $21,855 | $7,285–7,365 | DOGE announced the termination of a 1,525 square feet (141.7 m2) office space for the NOAA's Central Florida Lot Seafood Inspection Office (CFLSIO) in Seffner, Florida.[4]^ On May 26, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ On June 29, DOGE re-terminated this lease, and that by reterminated the lease, DOGE saved $7,365 rather than $7,285.[4]^ |
| Air Resources Laboratory's Field Research Division | Idaho Falls, Idaho | $69,756 | $488,290 | DOGE announced the termination of a 13,681 square feet (1,271.0 m2) office space for NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory's Field Research Division (NOAA ARL) in Idaho Falls, Idaho.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Salem, Oregon | $8,040 | $670 | DOGE announced the termination of a 236 square feet (21.9 m2) office space for NOAA, without listing what branch used the space. However, according to the Department of Commerce, NOAA had no offices in Salem, Oregon.[143]^ On May 3, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Hilo, Hawaii | $164,391 | $150,692 | DOGE announced the termination of a 4,638 square feet (430.9 m2) office space for NOAA, without listing what branch used the space.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | $71,102 | $59,251 | DOGE announced the termination of a 2,400 square feet (220 m2) office space for NOAA, without listing what branch used the space. On March 19, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| NOAA OLE | Salisbury, Maryland | $10,882 | $2,720 | DOGE announced the termination of a 826 square feet (76.7 m2) office space for NOAA's Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement in Salisbury, Maryland.[4]^ On May 26, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Northfield, New Jersey | $29,265–29,579 | $43,898–46,435 | DOGE announced the termination of a 1,035 square feet (96.2 m2) office space for NOAA, without listing what branch used the space.[4]^ On May 3, two months after the lease was terminated, without any details, DOGE stated the lease's annual cost for the federal government had increased from $29,265 to $29,579 and that DOGE had saved $46,435, rather than $43,898 as reported back on March 5.[4]^ On May 26, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Port Angeles, Washington | $100,232 | $217,169 | DOGE announced the termination of a 4,556 square feet (423.3 m2) office space for NOAA, without listing what branch used the space.[4]^ On May 3, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| NOAA NOS | Key Largo, Florida | $252,011 | $1,449,064 | DOGE announced the termination of a 7,993 square feet (742.6 m2) office space for the NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Eco Discovery Center, a branch of the National Ocean Service, located in Key Largo, Florida.[4]^ |
| NOAA OLE | Sunrise, Florida | $51,429–52,972 | $77,144–81,562 | DOGE announced the termination of a 1,858 square feet (172.6 m2) office space for NOAA's Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement in Sunrise, Florida.[4]^ On May 3, without any details, DOGE stated the already terminated lease's annual cost had increased from $51,429 to $52,972 and that DOGE had saved an additional $4,418, from the terminated lease's annual cost being increased.[4]^ On May 26, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Boise, Idaho | $111,448 | $27,862–28,091 | DOGE announced the termination of a 5,156 square feet (479.0 m2) office space for NOAA, without listing what branch used the space.[4]^ On June 29, nearly four months after the lease was terminated, DOGE announced that their savings from the lease being terminated had increased from $27,862 to $28,091, however, the annual lease cost for the already terminated contract was still $$111,448.[4]^ |
| NOAA ROC | Norman, Oklahoma | $484,325 | $4,157,122 | DOGE announced the termination of the NOAA Radar Operations Center's 18,743 square feet (1,741.3 m2) building on the University of Oklahoma campus, in Norman, Oklahoma. Information on this termination was leaked to the press two days before the formal release/announcement by DOGE.[138][137]^ On March 19, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island | $23,937 | $197,484 | DOGE announced the termination of a 674 square feet (62.6 m2) office space for NOAA, without listing what branch used the space.[144]^ |
| NOAA RGA | Barre, Vermont | $9,310–9,369 | $12,413–13,245 | DOGE announced the termination of a 287 square feet (26.7 m2) office space for NOAA's Regional Geodetic Advisor (RGA) in Barre, Vermont, which serves as the liaison between NOAA and the U.S. National Geodetic Survey.[4]^ On May 26, nearly three months after the lease was terminated, DOGE announced that their savings from the lease being terminated had increased from $12,413 to $13,245, and that the annual cost for the already terminated lease grew from $9,310 to $9,369.[4]^ |
| Unknown | Eureka, California | $19,793 | $65,977–66,483 | DOGE announced the termination of a 823 square feet (76.5 m2) office space for NOAA in Eureka, California, without listing what branch used the space. According to the NOAA, the only office in Eureka is the National Weather Service's Weather Forecast Office (WFO).[145]^ The Los Angeles Times reported the office space is an outpost of the National Marine Fisheries Service.[146]^ On May 3, two months after the lease was terminated, DOGE announced that their savings from the lease being terminated had increased from $65,977 to $66,483, however, the annual lease cost was still $19,793.[4]^ |
| NOAA OLE | Wall, New Jersey | $51,262 | $179,417 | DOGE announced the termination of a 1,768 square feet (164.3 m2) office space for NOAA's Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement in Wall, New Jersey.[4]^ On May 26, DOGE removed this lease terminations from their list as it was no longer set to be terminated.[4]^ |
Database and model closures
On April 2, 2025, the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), a branch of the NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), announced it would be closing and decommissioning several databases and websites. NCEI announced the Shoreline/Coastline Resources page, the Coastal Water Temperature Guide, the Thermal (geothermal) Hot Springs List for the United States, and the Thermal Hot Springs List for the United States would be decommissioned and closed from public access on May 5, 2025.[147]^ NCEI also announced the United States Earthquake Intensity Database and its sub-databases including the Earthquake Strong Motion Database would be decommissioned also on May 5, 2025.[147]^ NCEI later announced the Geological History of the World's Oceanic Crust database would be closed on May 12, 2025.[147]^ Also during April 2025, NCEI announced that all six Regional Climate Center websites would go offline by June 17, 2025, or earlier.[148][149]^
On May 8, NCEI announced it would be closing and retiring the Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database.[150]^
On June 26, the National Weather Service announced the Environmental Modeling Center would be discontinuing several weather models: the North American Mesoscale Model (NAM), the High Resolution Ensemble Forecast (HREF), the North American Rapid Refresh Ensemble (NARRE), and the High Resolution Window (HiresW), with the exception that HiresW would remain available to the NWS forecasting office in Guam. It was also announced that these models would all be replaced by the Rapid Refresh Forecast System (RRFS).[151]^ Roger Edwards, a retired employee from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) stated that "SPC staff who use these models universally deemed this plan a terrible idea harming forecasting" and that the complaints from the SPC staff were "delivered above and ignored".[152]^
2026 budget proposal
In Early-Mid 2025,[vague]^ the United States’ Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a seven-page proposed budget for NOAA in 2026. The proposed budget was proposed to cut 27.28% of NOAA’s budget in order to "eliminate functions of the Department that are misaligned with the President's agenda and the expressed will of the American people".[153]^ The proposed budget included a large budget cut from every branch of NOAA, except the National Weather Service (NWS), which would be exactly equal to their previous budget.[153]^ The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) had a 73.86% budget cut proposed, which would "eliminate all funding for climate, weather, and ocean Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes." It also does not fund Regional Climate Data and Information, Climate Competitive Research, Sea Grant (College and Aquaculture), or the National Oceanographic Partnership Program.[153]^ This includes the complete defunding of the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) and the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO), both located at the National Weather Center on the University of Oklahoma campus.[153]^
The proposed budget also included directions for NOAA to transfer the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) over to the Department of Homeland Security, as the agency "better aligns with DHS's mission to protect critical infrastructure." The proposal continued by saying DHS would "take on the operational mission to predict space weather events and disseminate space weather products and warnings".[153]^
NCAR dismantling
On December 17, 2025, Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, stated that the National Science Foundation would dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). This is part of the battle over climate and climate change research undertaken by Donald Trump's second presidency since January 2025, Mr. Vought being involved in Project 2025 of which this is one component.[154]^
Other changes
Webpage replaced by « THIS FILE IS DELETED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER. »
Following Executive Order 14172, signed by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, the National Weather Service and other Line Offices changed all maps and products to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America", costing untold hours of staff time to make the changes.[155][156]^
In March 2025, amid the 2025 United States government online resource removals, an unknown executive order signed by President Donald Trump resulted in the NOAA Radar Next Program Overview document being removed from NOAA servers.[157]^ The automated translation of NWS warnings into Spanish has also stopped after the contract expired.[158]^
In June 2025, the Department of Defense announced it would no longer provide critical weather data to scientists and forecasters, including to NOAA staff.[159]^
Domestic terrorism threats
In May 2025, Veterans on Patrol, a militarized and "violent militia-style group" made public threats to take down all 159 NEXRAD-radar sites across the United States. The NEXRAD sites are jointly owned and operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within the Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Air Force within the Department of Defense. NOAA sent an email to all personnel alerting them to the threats. CNN reported the email stated, "this group is advocating for anyone and everyone to join them in conducting penetration drills on NEXRAD sites to identify weaknesses which can be used to ultimately destroy the sites" and that "the group referred to the NEXRAD system towers as 'weather weapons,' and claimed there were no laws preventing American citizens from destroying the 'weapons,'".[160]^
See also
- Science policy of the second Donald Trump administration
- Information, science and research under the second Trump administration
- United States federal government targets of Elon Musk
- 2025 United States federal mass layoffs
- Outline of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- University of Oklahoma during the second presidency of Donald Trump
- List of weather modification projects in the United States during 2025
References..
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