NOAA Warns of Delays Amidst Trump-era Layoffs
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has warned of delays in responding to media inquiries due to recent layoffs. Former NOAA communications specialist, Matthew Koller, has expressed concern that these firings hinder the agency's mission of government transparency.
The Trump administration's 2025 firings have impacted not just NOAA, but also several other organizations. These include the Environmental Protection Agency (89%), the Department of Education (87%), the Department of Commerce (81%), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (71%), the Social Security Administration, the United States Agency for Global Media, and USAID, resulting in over 14,000 U.S. jobs and nearly 60,000 worldwide being affected.
Among those terminated were science communicators, hampering agencies' ability to respond to public inquiries and journalist questions. Thousands of public servants, including scientists like hydrologists, geologists, data scientists, modelers, and oceanographers, have been affected over the past couple of weeks.
Climate science experts remain available to comment on climate impacts of recent science policy decisions via [email protected]. The full extent of these layoffs and their impact on government transparency and scientific research is yet to be determined.
