Investigate NOAA, NWS Cuts Before Next Climate Crisis

Global warming and catastrophic weather events are no longer distant warnings, they are battering our communities today. We faced 17 deaths in Kentucky floods this spring. Coastal towns brace for the Atlantic’s record 13 to 19 named storms this season. Amid this, the Trump administration has slashed NOAA and NWS personnel by around 1,000 positions, nearly 10% of their workforce and cut weather balloon launches by 20%, crippling our forecasting systems . We’re already feeling the impact. Florida meteorologist John Morales, after 34 years on air, warned viewers that forecasting tools are so degraded, “we may be flying blind” this hurricane season . His on-air plea highlighted crucial threats: understaffed offices, grounded hurricane hunter aircraft, and delayed radar maintenance. Without those tools, evacuation orders come too late and lives are lost. The broader picture is chilling. NOAA’s climate.gov website, visited by hundreds of thousands monthly had almost its entire staff fired, threatening the loss of accessible, science-based climate information . Former NOAA scientists have protested politically motivated layoffs that dismantle research and ocean monitoring. A recent Nature survey found 75% of U.S. scientists consider leaving the country due to this “decimation” of science funding . We’re not opposed to responsible cuts. But this was reckless. This was ideological. Once a world leader in climate science, the U.S. is being hollowed out. We can’t allow expertise to be replaced by politics. Not now. Please act now. Launch congressional investigations. Restore funding, staffing, and capabilities across NOAA and NWS. Reinstate weather balloons, hurricane hunter flights, radar crews, and the climate.gov team. America’s safety, security, and future depend on early warnings.