WASHINGTON — The first round of firings started Thursday at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a government agency that monitors and predicts weather, climate, oceans, and coasts.
According to the Associated Press, NOAA’s 301 billion weather forecasts each year reach 96% of American households.
The firings are “going to affect safety of flight, safety of shipping, safety of everyday Americans,” Admiral Tim Gallaudet told The Associated Press Friday. President Donald Trump appointed Gallaudet as acting NOAA chief during his last administration. “Lives are at risk for sure.”
Washington Senator Patty Murray’s office said that they are aware of at least 650 NOAA employees on their “probationary” periods (meaning either recently promoted or hired) being fired at this point. The office said they are not aware of how many employees are in this position in Washington state, but said they are trying to get more information from agencies.
KIRO 7 News took critics’ concerns about the dismissals to the leader of Washington’s Republican party.
“The National Weather Service and NOAA do valuable work, but I’m not sure that they are properly staffed and properly resourced in a way to deliver the information they deliver in the most efficient and cost-effective way,” said Washington’s Republican Chairmen Rep. Jim Walsh.
The layoffs come as The Hill reports that the Interior Department has halted employee spending and travel, impacting departments like the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS is a key partner of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, which monitors seismic risk and eruptions in our region.
“If that continues over some time, that’s going to start to really degrade how our network operates,” said Harold Tobin, Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. “All of these hundreds of stations we have on mountaintops and everywhere else need maintenance all the time.”
Those stations provide Washingtonians with early warnings of disasters.
“Everybody’s got questions right now and as you’ve seen, what’s happening at the federal level seems to be changing from day to day,” Tobin said.
Walsh said cutting excess spending is what the American people elected President Trump to do, and he disagreed with critics’ claims that essential services were being cut.
“The U.S. Geological Survey isn’t going away, and the Interior Department scientific research isn’t ending,” Walsh said.
“You have scientists with USGS saying, ‘We can’t get out there and do our research because we only have $1 on our procurement cards,’” inquired KIRO 7′s Madeline Ottilie. “Can you really not call those essential?”
“Yes,” Walsh said. “You cannot call those essential. Be careful of falling victim to political, partisan framing.”
©2025 Cox Media Group
