NOAA to potentially cut more than 1,000 additional employees

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is preparing to lose an additional 1,029 employees, according to sources that spoke to CBS News. As part of the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management’s mandate for agencies to submit reduction in force plans, which are due by March 13, NOAA will be presenting its plan to the Department of Commerce by Tuesday evening with the proposed cuts.

The Department of Commerce will get a chance to review the proposal and either accept NOAA’s suggestions, or it could ask the agency to make additional changes that would increase or decrease this next round of terminations. Alongside the loss of staff will also be the elimination of programs that currently operate under NOAA’s purview. It’s not known which programs will be impacted.

DOGE has also announced it may terminate the leases of 19 NOAA offices across the country, including key buildings that maintain radar operations and generate vital weather forecasts.

As one of several scientific agencies within the federal government, NOAA is responsible for everything from weather forecasts, to coastal restoration, managing fisheries, and supporting marine commerce. NOAA’s work supports and affects more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product, according to the agency.

“The way it’s going to impact Americans is broad in the sense that these cuts were indiscriminate. They were based not on any particular mission priorities,” Rick Spinrad, who served as NOAA administrator during the Biden administration, told CBS News.

NOAA previously fired 880 employees on Feb. 27, the majority of which were probationary staff with fewer than two years in their positions. In addition to employees who accepted the “fork in the road” buyouts that were offered by the Office of Personnel Management in February, NOAA could potentially see a combined loss of 20% of its staff with this next round of cuts. Before January 2025, NOAA’s workforce exceeded 12,000 people worldwide with more than 50% being scientists and engineers.

A key department within NOAA is the National Weather Service, which is responsible for forecasts, issuing severe weather warnings, and providing other key weather-related services that are vital to protecting public safety. That department already lost hundreds of employees due to scheduled retirements, buyouts, and fired probationary workers. Because of some errors in those probationary firings, a select few at three regional offices have been asked to return to work, but it’s unclear how many employees at the National Weather Service have been reinstated.

“I think at some point people are going to recognize we need these capabilities for the public good, which, after all, is the role of government,” Spinrad said. “The question is, how much damage will we sustain before we’re able to turn around the damage that’s already been done?”

Seiji Yamashita and

Rob Marciano

contributed to this report.