Cantwell Statement on Mass NOAA Layoffs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Trump Administration laid off at least 880 workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement:
“The firings jeopardize our ability to forecast and respond to extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, and floods—putting communities in harm’s way. They also threaten our maritime commerce and endanger 1.7 million jobs that depend on commercial, recreational and tribal fisheries, including thousands in the State of Washington. This action is a direct hit to our economy, because NOAA’s specialized workforce provides products and services that support more than a third of the nation’s GDP.”
Last week, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, calling on him to exempt the National Weather Service (NWS) from the federal hiring freeze, and protect all NOAA workers from firings "that would jeopardize the safety of the American public."
“Without NOAA’s workforce, communities will not be prepared for the next big Nor'easter, hurricane, wildfire, or drought,” wrote Sen. Cantwell. “Ships will not be able to safely navigate through our waterways. Farmers will not have the data they need to manage their crops. NOAA’s workforce keeps people alive and provides communities with the scientific support tools to protect their families and grow their businesses. I urge you to appreciate these critical government functions and reverse the hiring freeze and refrain from mass firings of these invaluable public servants—American lives depend on it.”
Also last week, speaking in opposition to the nomination of now-Secretary Lutnick on the Senate floor, Sen. Cantwell cited his "tepid support" for NOAA as a key reason for her decision to vote against his confirmation.
“When asked for the record, ‘Should NOAA be dismantled, as called for in Project 2025?’, Mr. Lutnick would only say he'll figure it out once he's confirmed,” Sen. Cantwell said. “We needed a bigger commitment to NOAA. NOAA already supplies a big, important aspect of what we deal with, with weather forecasting, tracking extreme weather, hurricanes, wildfires, managing our fisheries, operating ships that conduct important charting for national security. Mr. Lutnick gave very tepid support for NOAA.”
Project 2025 calls for NOAA to be “dismantled and many of its functions eliminated,” calling it part of the “climate change alarm industry.” NOAA provides critical services to the nation including weather forecasts, extreme storm tracking and monitoring, tools to enable communities to adapt to sea level rise and climate change, supporting fisheries management, and conserving marine mammals and other protected species including salmon and orcas.
Sen. Cantwell is a champion of NOAA and helped secure $3.3 billion in NOAA investments in the Inflation Reduction Act to help communities prepare for and adapt to climate change, boost science needed to understand changing weather and climate patterns, and invest in advanced computer technologies that are critical for extreme weather prediction and emergency response. Her Fire Ready Nation Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen NOAA’s ability to help forecast, prevent, and fight wildfires, passed the Commerce committee unanimously earlier this month and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
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