Originally published Trump’s NOAA nominee: Ongoing hiring freeze ‘challenging’ for its mission on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/07/trumps-noaa-nominee-ongoing-hiring-freeze-challenging-for-its-mission/ at Federal News Network
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President Donald Trump’s pick to run the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told lawmakers that if confirmed, adequate staffing for the agency will be paramount in preparation for major budget cuts next year.
Neil Jacobs, Trump’s nominee to serve as NOAA administrator, told members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that a governmentwide hiring freeze, recently extended to Oct. 15, has made it “challenging” for the agency to meet certain parts of its mission.
Jacobs on Wednesday told lawmakers that staffing up NOAA will be a “top priority,” if confirmed. NOAA, which is home to the National Weather Service, faces questions about its capacity, after a flash flood in Texas killed more than 100 people during the Fourth of July weekend. More than 160 people are still missing following the storm.
Taylor Jordan, Trump’s nominee to serve as assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction at NOAA, called the flash flood in Texas “is a tragic reminder that weather affects American every day,” and that, if confirmed he would ensure the National Weather Service continues to provide weather forecasts that keep Americans out of harm’s way.”
NOAA has lost about 2,000 employees so far in contentious recent months.
NOAA fired approximately 800 probationary employees in February. The agency briefly reinstated them, then re-fired them as a lawsuit made its way through the federal district and appeals courts.
In addition, more than 1,000 NOAA employees also left the agency after they accepted the deferred resignation program, early retirement offers and voluntary separation incentive payments.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said the administration has “taken a sledgehammer” to NOAA’s workforce, and that more than 3,000 vacant positions remain mostly unfilled because of a governmentwide hiring freeze.
“I expect to hear how we’re going to defend the science mission without the people and without the science to help deliver those essential services,” Cantwell said.
More data needed post-storm
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised the National Weather Service for its response to the flash flood, and said he has been a “fierce defender” of NOAA’s mission at a town hall address on Tuesday, according to several NOAA employees in attendance.
Jacobs told the committee that he’d make weather forecasting improvements a priority if confirmed, and would modernize the agency’s capabilities to send storm warnings.
“Even if the forecast is perfect, getting the warnings to the people, particularly at late hours of the night, is a challenge,” he said.
Jacobs said the agency also needs to gather more data to do post-storm assessments.
“We need the data to understand what went right, what went wrong, whether people got the warnings, if they did or didn’t — and if they did, did they not understand them?” he said.
NOAA faces a 27% spending cut in the Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal. The request eliminates the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), its research and development arm.
Jacobs said the National Weather Service and the National Ocean Service would absorb some OAR programs, and that “their mission-essential functions will continue.”
The proposed budget would also eliminate NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System, a series of buoys used to forecast tsunamis and hurricanes, which are critical to fisheries and marine transportation.
Jacobs told lawmakers he supports the president’s budget. At the same time, “I don’t think you could spend too much on the research,” he said.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said these cuts would have a “ripple effect” on NOAA’s weather readiness.
“You can’t cut something by 27%, as the storms are enhanced as each year goes by, without having that additional capacity,” Markey said.
NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations is currently short 180 mariners, and without an exemption from the hiring freeze, about 30% of its research fleet will remain docked this summer.
Jacobs said “not having the hiring freeze lift is challenging” to ensure NOAA is staffed up on “wage mariners” who work onboard the agency’s ships.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said he worked with the Commerce Department to lift a hiring freeze on meteorologists and other specialists at the National Weather Service to ensure “uninterrupted service.”
Jacobs thanked Moran for his work to partially lift the hiring freeze and said, “getting these offices staffed up will be a top priority.”
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Originally published Trump’s NOAA nominee: Ongoing hiring freeze ‘challenging’ for its mission on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/07/trumps-noaa-nominee-ongoing-hiring-freeze-challenging-for-its-mission/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Federal News Network
