WASHINGTON, DC – After a series of powerful tornadoes swept through the South and Midwest this weekend, killing at least 34 Americans, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is expressing condolences to the victims; urging swift emergency federal assistance for impacted communities; and urging the Trump Administration to immediately reverse arbitrary staff cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, a component of NOAA that issues early warnings and predictive modeling to help people prepare for weather emergencies.

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by shadow president Elon Musk, recently forced NOAA and the NationalWeather Service to layoff about 10 percent of its workforce.  The mass-firing included some of America’s top meteorologists and researchers who are charged with providing the public with accurate, life-saving weather reports and data. 

And last week it was reported by the Associated Press that the Trump Administration is readying another mass-firing of NOAA employees which would make Americans even more vulnerable to hazardous weather.  If plans for these latest cuts move forward, nearly 20 percent of NOAA’s 13,000-person workforce would be terminated.

“We mourn the lives lost and stand with those impacted by these storms.  The federal government must do its part to help communities recover and rebuild.  The Trump Administration should speed aid to the hardest hit areas, cease the NOAA cutbacks, and immediately rehire the NOAA employees it arbitrarily fired.  The mass-culling of America’s top meterolgists and researchers at NOAA was an ill-conceived, short-sighted, cost-cutting move that undermines public safety.  The Trump Administration doesn’t seem to respect the important work these scientists and researchers do, otherwise, it wouldn’t try to hollow out and understaff these critical posts,” said Reed.

The staffing shortages caused by the Trump Administration’s arbitrary cuts have already halted and delayed several NOAA balloon launches that collect weather data.

"The Trump Administration should stop decimating government services and destabilizing the process of forecasting and tracking storm intensity.  The Trump Administrating is undermining public safety and hindering the nation’s ability to forecast and respond to sudden, severe weather events.  NOAA helps people prepare and avoid disaster.  The devastation of these tornados and storm systems should be a wakeup call and the Trump Administration needs to recalibrate and swiftly change course to help prevent future tragedies,” said Reed.  “Investing in real-time storm tracking and predictive modeling saves lives.”

NOAA is a critical federal agency charged with monitoring and forecasting weather across the U.S. and tracking climate trends.  NOAA also researches ocean systems, marine life, and maps the seas; among other critical tasks.  The federal agency has its own fleet of research and survey vessels and specialized aircraft, operated by a combination of NOAA Corps officers and civilians.  NOAA oversees the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center, maintaining a network of radar systems, satellites and weather balloons to help predict and track extreme weather events.

Last fall, Senator Reed sounded the alarm about Project 2025’s extremist plan to dismantle NOAA, which it labelled “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.”  Reed warned plans to gut the National Weather Service and emergency management would be a major disaster.

The Trump Administration’s devastating cuts to key federal agencies are leaving state and local emergency managers to question whether they can count on the federal government in times of need.  Victims of the California wildfires are still waiting for emergency recovery assistance from the Trump Administration, and President Trump has called the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) a “disaster” and suggested it might “go away” leaving states in need further isolated after future catastrophes.