Former NOAA employees protest ‘illegal' firings outside Silver Spring headquarters
WASHINGTON () — Fired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employees held a rally outside NOAA Silver Spring headquarters against what they call 'illegal firings.'
Former NOAA workers said the firings will jeopardize public safety and the economy because it will risk the lives of Americans who depend on their work.
'Beyond the personal devastation that I experienced, I see how it's blatantly illegal,' former NOAA employee Sabrina Valenti said.
Democrats accuse DOGE of going after NOAA
Valenti and other former employees are speaking out against the administration's mass federal firing, saying it puts American lives in danger.
'People are going to die during hurricanes because of inaccurate forecasts,' Valenti said. 'They fire the people who make the good forecasts. People are going to drown in their homes because either they weren't told to evacuate or when they tried to evacuate, they weren't able to because the road wasn't there. People's homes are going to be leveled in tornadoes or in supercells because they didn't know there was a tornado coming.'
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined the protest to warn about how the firings put everyday Americans at risk. He said he sent a letter to the Department of Commerce Secretary warning that the firings were illegal.
'What we need to do is fight this in the courts,' Van Hollen said. 'Fight this in Congress and fight this in communities across the country.'
NOAA set to slash jobs 'imminently'
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has defended the firing of federal employees by his Department of Government Efficiency as 'common sense.'
'If we don't do this, America will go bankrupt,' Musk said. 'That's why it has to be done.'
NOAA creates daily forecasts for 122 local offices across the country.
DC News Now reached out to NOAA but did not hear back in time for publication.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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