Silver NOAA research boat on icy sea during daytime
Credit: NOAA/Unsplash

NOAA prepares for major staff layoffs amid federal cuts

Mass layoffs are expected soon at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with sources warning that job cuts could undermine the agency’s ability to provide critical weather forecasts.

Zack Budryk reports for The Hill.


In short:

  • NOAA, which operates under the Commerce Department, has so far avoided deep federal cuts but is now expected to lose a significant number of employees.
  • Initially, only new hires were slated for termination, but leadership was later directed to add recently promoted employees, veterans, and disabled workers to the list.
  • Concerns are growing that layoffs could weaken NOAA’s ability to track hurricanes and extreme weather, with some insiders fearing lives could be at risk.

Key quote:

"Cutting NOAA staff indiscriminately, not selectively based on the roles that they play, just based on the number of years that they’ve had experience in the agency, is going to cripple the agency and have a strong, negative impact potentially."

— Anonymous NOAA source

Why this matters:

NOAA plays a critical role in weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and disaster response. Cutting its workforce could slow storm tracking, weaken early warning systems, and make communities more vulnerable to extreme weather. The agency also monitors geomagnetic storms, which can disrupt telecommunications and power grids. As climate change intensifies hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters, a weakened NOAA could leave Americans with less time to prepare and respond.

Related: NOAA scientists face restrictions on foreign collaboration

A street lined with cars and power lines with lots of criss-crossing wires.
Credit: Cry Mor/Unsplash

Puerto Rico’s blackout crisis drags on as solar dreams stall and federal dollars sit idle

Despite billions in recovery funds and a bold renewable energy mandate, Puerto Rico remains trapped in a cycle of blackouts, political gridlock, and public frustration.

Gloria Gonzalez reports for Politico.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
In an archive photo from the 1970s, children stand and play in front of a house with a polluting smokestack in background.

Opinion: Trump-era science cuts would open the door to industry-fueled pollution

The Trump administration’s move to gut EPA science programs could let polluting industries rewrite the rules on cancer-causing chemicals, writes Jennifer Sass for Scientific American.

Keep reading...Show less
Silhouette of wind turbines in the sea during sunset.

EPA begins targeting offshore wind permits, slowing clean energy rollout

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has revoked a key permit for a New Jersey offshore wind project, marking the agency’s first major action under President Trump’s order to halt the expansion of the offshore wind industry.

Clare Fieseler reports for Canary Media.

Keep reading...Show less
Brown and tan desert mountain near body of water during daytime.

Chile's lithium rush strains Indigenous communities and dries up a fragile desert ecosystem

A lithium mining boom in Chile’s Atacama Desert is depleting water resources and transforming the lives of Indigenous Lickanantay communities, who now face worsening drought, ecological loss, and cultural disruption.

Muriel Alarcón reports for Grist

Keep reading...Show less
Men installing solar panels on a roof.

Zooming in on the fallout from the Trump administration's freezing of green bank funds

A sweeping halt to a $27 billion federal climate program is upending clean energy plans and stalling economic development for nonprofits, lenders, and contractors in low-income communities nationwide.

Marianne Lavelle and Dan Gearino report for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
a white ceiling fan in a white room.
Credit: A. B./Unsplash

HHS abruptly eliminates staff for federal energy aid program serving millions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services fired all federal employees running a key energy assistance program for low-income families, raising concerns about access to funds as summer approaches.

Rachel Frazin reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less
Wind turbines in the distance with a yellow field in the foreground and a blue sky in the background.

Trump tariffs may raise U.S. wind energy prices and stall project growth

Tariffs proposed by President Trump could raise the cost of building wind power projects in the U.S., threatening the already fragile momentum of the renewable energy sector.

Stanley Reed reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.