Critics Warn Trump 'Flatly Illegal' Firings at NOAA Will 'Cost Lives'

Critics on Thursday decried the Trump administration's firing of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration staffers, part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency's plan to eviscerate the federal government.

Following the playbook of Project 2025, a blueprint for gutting the federal government, the Commerce Department this week fired hundreds of NOAA staffers, many of them specialized climate scientists and weather forecasters.

In addition to issuing weather watches and warnings, NOAA monitors and studies the planet's climate.

"Today... scientists and experts at NOAA received the news every federal worker has been dreading," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) warned. "Musk and his fake officials, the DOGE tech bros, have been rummaging through our most sensitive data without authority in violation of the law for weeks now. And this has come with sweeping, indiscriminate layoffs of nonpartisan public servants. Park rangers, firefighters, scientists—all of these people, whose purpose is to serve everyday Americans, have had the rug pulled out from under them. And we will all be worse off for it."

"Musk's sham mission is bringing vital programs to a screeching halt," Huffman added. "People nationwide depend on NOAA for free, accurate forecasts, severe weather alerts, and emergency information. Purging the government of scientists, experts, and career civil servants and slashing fundamental programs will cost lives."

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen's (D-Md.) office said in a statement that the senator stressed that the firings "would be plainly unlawful and pointed to the Merit Service Protection Board's decision yesterday that stayed the terminations of multiple federal employees on probationary status."

"I take this opportunity to remind the department of its legal obligation to notify the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations regarding the large-scale termination of employees," the senator added. Specifically, Section 505 of Title V, Division C of Public Law 118–42—a provision of the American Relief Act, 2025 (Public Law 118–158)—states, in part:

None of the funds provided under this act, or provided under previous appropriations acts to the agencies funded by this act that remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year 2024... shall be available for obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming of funds that... reduces by 10% funding for any program, project, or activity, or numbers of personnel by 10%; or…results from any general savings, including savings from a reduction in personnel, which would result in a change in existing programs, projects, or activities as approved by Congress; unless the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations are notified 15 days in advance of such reprogramming of funds.

"Other agencies in my subcommittee's jurisdiction have cited 'poor performance' to move forward with drastic layoffs," Van Hollen added. "This has been exposed as a lie. Many terminated probationary employees have already come forward with evidence of recent glowing performance reviews, laying bare the flimsy pretext of these firings as gross misrepresentations of fact. The department must not become a purveyor of such lies and must comply with its legal obligations."

Juan Declet-Barreto, senior social scientist for climate vulnerability in the Climate and Energy Program at Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement that "today's mass layoffs of NOAA staff signals a grim new reality: one where career federal scientists will be recklessly discarded, and the lifesaving science they do will be significantly undermined."

"When testifying under oath, Howard Lutnick assured congressional members that if confirmed as commerce secretary, NOAA wouldn’t be dismantled under his watch—a promise that was broken today," Declet-Barreto added. "It seems either Lutnick willingly lied to Congress and the American people or that he has caved in record-breaking time to the destructive agenda of the Trump-Musk regime."

Oceana U.S. vice president Beth Lowell said that "our oceans have become political carnage, but the real victims are hardworking Americans—the people you care about—and our future generations."

"These are American jobs that warn us about severe weather, protect our most vulnerable marine life like whales and turtles, ensure abundant fisheries, and maintain a healthy ocean for those whose livelihoods depend on it," Lowell added. "We're calling on Congress to save NOAA from these disastrous cuts, while also protecting American jobs, communities, and the oceans."

More than 2,000 scientists have signed a letter to members of Congress and the Commerce Secretary urging protection of NOAA.