Latest news with #CraigMcLean
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Documents reveal Trump's plan to gut funding for Nasa and climate science
Donald Trump shows no signs of easing his assault on climate science as plans of more sweeping cuts to key US research centers surfaced on Friday. The administration is planning to slash budgets at both the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (Noaa) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), according to internal budget documents, taking aim specifically at programs used to study impacts from the climate crisis. Craig McLean, a longtime director of the office of oceanic and atmospheric research (OAR) who retired in 2022, told the Guardian that the cuts were draconian and would 'compromise the safety, economic competitiveness, and security of the American people'. If the plan is approved by Congress, funding for OAR would be eviscerated – cut from $485m to $171m – dismantling an important part of the agency's mission. Related: White House ends funding for key US climate body: 'No coming back from this' All budgets for climate, weather and ocean laboratories would be drained, according to the document reviewed by the Guardian, which states: 'At this funding level, OAR is eliminated as a line office.' 'The elimination of Noaa's research line office and all of its research capabilities is a crushing blow to the ability of our country to protect our citizens and also to lead the world,' said the former Noaa administrator Rick Spinrad, adding that the document included 'an extraordinarily devastating set of recommendations'. The proposal would also cut more than $324m from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), instructing the agency to align its work with administration priorities to 'unleash American energy'. Species-recovery grants, habitat conservation and restoration, and the interjurisdictional fisheries grant program, which supports coordinated management and research with the states, would all lose funding. The document also outlines a plan to move the NMFS under the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Noaa is facing a $1.3bn cut to overall operations and research, with various programs on the chopping block, and the National Ocean Service would be cut in half. Science done outside the agency would also be undermined with cuts to Noaa's climate research grants program, which provides roughly $70m a year. Related: Noaa fires hundreds of climate workers after court clears way for dismissals 'It's a really disturbing and concerning development – but I would say it is not all that surprising,' Spinrad said of the plans outlined in the document, noting that there have been many indications the administration would take steps such as these. 'But it also has an element of randomness associated with it,' he added. 'There are specific programs called out, the reasons for which are absolutely not clear.' The fallout from cuts this deep, should Congress adopt the president's plan, would be felt in communities around the world, and in far-ranging sectors, from agriculture to emergency management. 'By making a complete divestiture in science and in our research enterprise, we are basically saying we are not interested in improving our quality of life or our economy,' Spinrad said. The administration also outlined plans to severely defund research at Nasa, the country's space agency. The agency is slated for a 20% overall budget loss, but deeper cuts would be directed at programs overseeing planetary science, earth science and astrophysics research, according to Ars Technica, which first on Trump's plans when agency officials were briefed last month. Now documents have been issued to back up those plans, halving funding for science at Nasa. The plan for Nasa would also scrap a series of missions, including some that the federal government has already poured billions of taxpayer dollars into. The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope, which could offer glimpses into distant galaxies after its scheduled launch next year, is among them, along with the Mars Sample Return and the Davinci mission to Venus. The Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, which employs roughly 10,000 people, would also be closed. 'This is an extinction-level event for Nasa science,' Casey Dreier, chief of space policy for the Planetary Society, told the Washington Post. 'It needlessly terminates functional, productive science missions and cancels new missions currently being built, wasting billions of taxpayer dollars in the process. This is neither efficient nor smart budgeting.' Still not set in stone, these 'passback' documents are a part of how the government goes about budgeting. They are issued by the White House to federal agencies before the discretionary budget is released and are seen as a guidance on presidential priorities. The numbers aren't final and could be changed, and Congress will also have to act on the plans to finalize them. Spinrad is confident that many legislators won't support the cuts. 'Many of the actions put forward by [the White House's office of management and budget] are in direct contradiction to congressional intent,' he said. 'Zeroing out programs that Congress has worked hard to authorize over the years – that's a clarion call to specific members and sponsors.' There's also likely to be strong pushback from the public and from industries that rely on the tools and services made possible by the country's scientists. But the drastic degree of these cuts also shows the administration's position on climate science and its determination to hamper US research, experts say. That alone is enough to cause concern. 'This proposal will cost lives,' McLean said of the document if it is enacted. 'When a room full of doctors tell you that it's cancer, firing the doctors does not cure you.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
List of Social Security Administration offices DOGE is closing
(NewsNation) — The Department of Government Efficiency has started to make large budget cuts, resulting in the closure of multiple Social Security Administration offices across the United States. The latest announcement from DOGE currently has a total of 47 offices nationwide with closures or plans for closures across the Southeast, Midwest, Northeast and Western United States, Newsweek reported. The Southeastern United States was hit the hardest, with almost half of all closures taking place in the states of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi and Arkansas. Here's the latest list of Social Security Administration offices that have been closed or are in the process of being closed by DOGE: Georgia Brunswick Columbus Gainesville Thomasville Vidalia Alabama Anniston Cullman Gadsden Jasper Arkansas Batesville Forrest City Jonesboro Texarkana North Carolina Elizabeth City Franklin Greenville Roanoke Rapids Texas Abilene Nacogdoches Victoria New York Horseheads Poughkeepsie White Plains Mississippi Grenada Greenwood Meridian How many people over 100 receive Social Security benefits? The Social Security Administration released a news release in February stating all agency employees have been told to prepare for 'significant workforce reductions.' According to the release, the SSA will work on restructuring the department, which could lead to employees being fired or redirected. It could also lead to organizations or positions being erased completely. 'Reassignments may be involuntary and may require retraining for new workloads,' the release said. This all comes as Elon Musk's DOGE continues to make cuts. In February, hundreds of weather forecasters and other employees with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were fired. According to Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist, the first round of cuts at the NOAA were probationary employees. In fact, thousands of probationary employees across the entire federal government have been fired in the past few weeks. Musk claims that DOGE has saved an estimated $65 billion so far, but data shows that 40% of the contracts that have been cut so far won't be saving the government any money. So far, it is unclear how much money DOGE has saved for the federal government. NewsNation's Sierra Campbell contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
880 lose jobs at agency over National Weather Service, hurricane center. What is NOAA?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that forecasts the country's weather, protects ocean species and provides free and comprehensive hurricane, flooding and other dangerous weather warnings to Floridians, lost more than 880 probationary employees Thursday in the latest wave of federal firings, with possibly more to come. 'The hammer came down," said Craig McLean, a former chief scientist and former assistant administrator for research at NOAA. Like the other federal agencies that have undergone massive purges under orders from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and President Donald Trump, NOAA officials were told to fire "everyone on probationary status," said Andrew Rosenberg, a marine scientist, co-editor of the SciLight newsletter and a former deputy director of NOAA's Fisheries Service. That includes any NOAA employees hired within the last year, or in some cases two years. It also includes anyone promoted in the same period, meaning many experienced employees with years of institutional knowledge who recently advanced in their jobs were also let go. A source told CNN that some employees in critical positions may have been exempted. Andrew Hazelton, a researcher responsible for evaluating hurricane forecasts and improving the models the National Hurricane Center uses to track storms, verified on X, formerly Twitter, that he was fired. How will this affect Florida, a state where lives depend on hurricane forecasts and tornado alerts? NOAA has not commented on how the agency will accommodate the changes, saying it does not discuss personnel and matters. "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience,' spokesman Scott Smullen told USA TODAY. Hurricane DOGE hits NOAA: Mass job cuts hit NOAA, agency that oversees hurricane center and weather service The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses a vast network of research programs, vessels, satellites, science centers, laboratories, scientists and experts to understand and predict climate and extreme weather impacts. Countless lives have been saved through advance warning of dangerous weather, and many industries rely on NOAA for planning. Data from NOAA and its agencies inform weather predictions, fisheries management, coastal restoration and marine commerce, along with whatever weather app you use. NOAA oversees the National Weather Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean Service, the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations & NOAA Corps. The National Hurricane Center is a division of the NOAA/National Weather Service. NOAA's weather data going back over a century on the warming climate and its impact on the intensity of rainfall in storms, rising sea levels, coastal flooding, extended droughts and other scientific evidence have made the agency a target of conservatives who dismiss the threat and wish to remove obstructions to business interests. In his first term, Trump proposed slashing NOAA's budget by 18% and the agency's weather and climate research office by 43%. On the first day of his second term, Trump rescinded 78 executive orders approved by former President Joe Biden that included efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and signed an executive order leaving the Paris Climate Agreement again. In his first week, Trump ordered federal departments to scrub references to topics that do not fit his priorities, such as mentions of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and climate change. As of early Friday morning, the climate change section on NOAA's website and its standalone site are still visible. Earlier this month, Trump nominated Dr. Neil Jacobs to lead NOAA. Jacobs was Trump's acting NOAA chief in 2019 who backed him up in what became known as Sharpiegate after meteorologists contradicted his claims about where Hurricane Dorian might go and the president doubled down, presenting a hurricane impact map with a crude loop added with a Sharpie, Trump's preferred pen. The National Weather Service provides a wealth of detailed, comprehensive weather information and forecasts, all completely for free, used by researchers, weather apps and everyday people every day. Project 2025, the conservative roadmap and wishlist from right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation, would like people to pay for it instead, and it calls for NOAA to be broken up because the agency "has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity." After a public backlash to its extreme proposals, Trump disavowed the project during his campaign, but many of his executive orders and the actions of DOGE mirror, if not surpass its recommendations. The plan also makes a point of stating that "Scientific agencies like NOAA are vulnerable to obstructionism of an Administration's aims if political appointees are not wholly in sync with Administration policy," suggesting that scientific data about the world around us must be changed to fit official policy, rather than the other way around. The project calls out NOAA specifically for "climate alarmism" and recommends the agency be "dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories." Among other things, Project 2025 suggests: Breaking up NOAA and reassigning the ships and planes used by NOAA to other agencies Charging for currently free National Weather Service data Transfer NOS Survey functions to the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Geological Survey Streamline the National Marine Fisheries Service and reduce or remove regulations on fisheries, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Downsize the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and disband the bulk of its climate change research. No. The project says the department's data provides "important public safety and business functions as well as academic functions, and are used by forecasting agencies and scientists internationally." However, the project does call for a review of all data from the National Hurricane Service and the National Environmental Satellite Service to ensure it is presented neutrally, "without adjustments intended to support any one side in the climate debate." It remains to be seen if ideological pressure will affect the accuracy of NOAA's forecasts. Former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said in an essay on his LinkedIn page that slashing NOAA could reduce the federal budget "if we are willing to kill a few thousand Americans every year, put our economy further into debt, and guarantee the loss of real property around the country.' Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: NOAA layoffs come to agency overseeing weather data in DOGE purge
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Elon Musk's DOGE homes in on new target, slashing hundreds of jobs
Hundreds of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employees, including weather forecasters, have had their jobs terminated, according to lawmakers and weather experts. Remaining federal workers reported that the layoffs included meteorologists vital to local forecasting at National Weather Service offices nationwide. Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist, said that the cuts occurred in two phases, one of 500 and another of 800, based on information from a source with direct knowledge. This accounts for approximately 10 per cent of NOAA's total workforce. McLean noted that the initial round of cuts targeted probationary employees, of which there are around 375 within the National Weather Service. The firings come amid efforts by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce the federal workforce, which President Donald Trump has previously criticised as bloated and inefficient. Thousands of probationary employees across various government agencies have already been dismissed. Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., released a statement saying: 'Today, hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including weather forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS), were given termination notices for no good reason. This is unconscionable.' Meng added: "These are dedicated, hardworking Americans whose efforts help save lives and property from the devastating impacts of natural disasters across the country. This action will only endanger American lives going forward.' Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is the ranking minority member in the House Natural Resources Committee, also said 'hundreds of scientists and experts at NOAA' were let go. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said on social media that the job cuts "are spectacularly short-sighted, and ultimately will deal a major self-inflicted wound to the public safety of Americans and the resiliency of the American economy to weather and climate-related disasters.'
Washington Post
28-02-2025
- Climate
- Washington Post
Hundreds of weather forecasters fired in latest wave of DOGE cuts
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees on probationary status were fired Thursday, lawmakers and weather experts said. Federal workers who were not let go said the afternoon layoffs included meteorologists who do crucial local forecasts in National Weather Service offices across the country. Cuts at NOAA appeared to be happening in two rounds, one of 500 and one of 800, said Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist who said he got the information from someone with first-hand knowledge. That's about 10% of NOAA's workforce. The first round of cuts were probationary employees, McLean said. There are about 375 probationary employees in the National Weather Service — where day-to-day forecasting and hazard warning is done. The firings come amid efforts by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to shrink a federal workforce that President Donald Trump has called bloated and sloppy. Thousands of probationary employees across the government have already been fired . Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., released a statement saying: 'Today, hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including weather forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS), were given termination notices for no good reason. This is unconscionable.' Meng added: 'These are dedicated, hardworking Americans whose efforts help save lives and property from the devastating impacts of natural disasters across the country. This action will only endanger American lives going forward.' Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is the ranking minority member in the House Natural Resources Committee, also said 'hundreds of scientists and experts at NOAA' were let go. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said on social media that the job cuts 'are spectacularly short-sighted, and ultimately will deal a major self-inflicted wound to the public safety of Americans and the resiliency of the American economy to weather and climate-related disasters.'
