A new report reveals that the Trump administration has outlined a plan to eliminate the research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, while also closing weather and climate labs. Democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm over this enormous blow to public safety.
“On today’s episode of “He’s Tearing This S**t Up”—Trump plans to dismantle NOAA, shutting down climate research and weather labs,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
She condemned the move, writing, “In Texas, that means fewer hurricane warnings, less drought data, & more risk to our communities. This isn’t just a budget cut—it’s a threat to our safety.”
Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency made the NOAA one of the first government agencies to be targeted for dismantling, all in the name of rooting out “waste” and decimating federal spending. DOGE dorks took down websites then cut the agency’s workforce. That meant the gutting of crucial research operations, including those using weather balloons to collect data essential to tornado modeling. Those scientific observations were shuttered at Musk’s direction.
The latest hit to the NOAA coincides with the Trump administration’s proposal to cut nearly half of NASA’s science budget. With a Musk-wannabe billionaire tech bro chosen by Trump heading the space agency, the assault on science and research could have catastrophic consequences for our country’s security.
“NASA Goddard and the NASA science missions are critical to discovering the secrets of the universe and the planet we live on and have a direct bearing on our leadership in technological innovation and our national security,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a statement, vowing to fight the cuts. “This is a wholly unserious budget proposal.”
These attacks on science, along with aright-wing push to privatize these science- and tech-driven government agencies, are just more gross examples of how Trump and the GOP are scrounging to fund their tax cuts for the rich.