National Weather Service Partial Rehire Plan Isn’t Good Enough, Says Cantwell
NWS lost over 560 employees under Trump firings, creating unprecedented forecasting interruptions; today’s approval of 126 new hires represents less than 1/4 of that total; Months before the current crisis, Cantwell called for an exemption and accurately predicted the current situation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, 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, released this statement following the Trump administration’s announcement of a plan to partially undo the damage done by their indiscriminate firings, resignations, and attrition plaguing the National Weather Service (NWS) workforce.
“The Trump Administration is trying to put a flimsy band-aid over their massive cut to the National Weather Service,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Hiring back less than a quarter of the people they fired isn't good enough with hurricane and wildfire seasons bearing down. The administration should immediately end its hiring freeze for the National Weather Service, along with other critical safety roles throughout NOAA, including weather researchers and maritime professionals that weather forecasters and fisheries managers depend on.”
This dangerous decision to leave critical jobs unfilled comes as the National Interagency Fire Center, a partnership which includes NWS, released its Fire Maps for the next four months predicting above normal significant fire potential across the Northwest, and the National Weather Service predicts an above-normal hurricane season, which began yesterday.
Just last Thursday, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter demanding that the Trump Administration immediately exempt the NWS from its current federal hiring freeze so that citizens and communities will not be left to fend for themselves without adequate warnings as both hurricane season and wildfire season rapidly approach.
Today’s action by the administration lifted the hiring freeze on 126 positions across four roles – meteorologists, hydrologists, physical scientists, and electronic technicians. However, many other important roles remain subject to the freeze, including credentialed mariners needed to safety operate NOAA research vessels, weather scientists, and weather satellite technicians. NOAA vessels and satellites are crucial to maintaining forecast and weather infrastructure needed for meteorologists to issue quality and timely forecasts. These firings also impact our economy, with a number of commercial fishing surveys cancelled this year, including for Alaska pollock and salmon. Elimination of surveys will take catch from fishing families, which will result in job loss and increased cost for consumers that want access to high quality American seafood at their local markets and restaurants.
Multiple recent reports have documented the impacts of the hiring freeze. The Washington Post reports that “Some…forecasting teams are so critically understaffed that the agency is offering to pay moving expenses for any staff willing to transfer to those offices, according to notices recently sent to employees…” And the New York Times found that “The National Weather Service is preparing for the probability that fewer forecast updates will be fine-tuned by specialists, among other cutbacks, because of ‘severe shortages’ of meteorologists and other employees, according to an internal agency document.” These reports make clear that action must be taken immediately to avoid a catastrophic gap in capacity in the face of a future storm or wildfire.
In February, Sen. Cantwell sent Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a letter warning of the likelihood of this exact situation.
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