As devastating floods ravage Texas, Trump’s cuts to the key weather and disaster response agencies have left critical forecast positions across the country vacant, undermining the early warning systems that save lives during natural disasters. Communities across the country are facing increasing disasters and need a coordinated federal response – but Trump still wants to continue gutting the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA’s) workforce, zero-out weather research funding, and is looking to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) entirely as he funds massive tax breaks for America’s wealthiest individuals and corporations.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 10 percent of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s workforce, around 1,300 staffers and researchers, are gone under Trump.
- Just last week, Trump called for reducing NOAA’s workforce by a further 17 percent – more than 2,000 staffers and researchers.
- Trump slashed 20 percent of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s full-time staff and moved to freeze its funds.
- The Trump administration plans to phase out FEMA and completely zero-out NOAA’s weather research, weather laboratories, and tornado and severe storm research budget.
- Nearly half of National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices were “critically understaffed” with 20 percent vacancy rates due to Trump’s cuts as of April 2025.
- 25 percent of NWS stations lack a meteorologist-in-charge.
TIMELINE
November 2024
- Project 2025 called for breaking up NOAA and privatizing weather forecasting (PBS).
- Trump selected Project 2025 architect Russell Vought to lead the White House budget office (PBS).
February 2025
- Trump fired around 800 NOAA staffers as part of his mass layoffs across the Federal government, leaving the agency without key climate prediction expertise (The New York Times).
- Trump pushed around 500 NOAA staffers to resign under an early retirement program (The New York Times).
March 2025
- Elon Musk laid the groundwork to privatize NOAA’s space and satellite operations used for weather forecasting to steer lucrative contracts towards SpaceX and Starlink (The Guardian).
- Trump and DOGE moved to freeze FEMA disaster response funding (The New York Times).
April 2025
- Trump and DOGE slashed FEMA’s full-time staff workforce by 20 percent (CNN).
- The NWS announced preparations for “degraded operations” due to Trump’s cuts (The New York Times).
- Nearly half of NWS offices became “critically understaffed,” with at least 20 percent vacancy rates (PBS).
- More than 2,000 AmeriCorps volunteers, many of whom work with FEMA, were let go as part of DOGE cuts (Associated Press).
May 2025
- Five former National Weather Service directors warned that staff cuts could lead to unnecessary deaths during severe weather (NBC News).
- The Trump administration fired the head of FEMA one day after defending the agency’s work during a Congressional hearing (The Wall Street Journal).
June 2025
- Trump announced plans to phase out FEMA entirely at the end of the hurricane season (CNN).
July 2025
- The Trump administration announced plans to zero out weather research, weather laboratories, and tornado and severe storm research at NOAA (The Hill).
- The Trump administration called for reducing NOAA’s full-time staff by 2,061 people when compared with fiscal 2024, a 17 percent cut (The Hill).
- Deadly floods ravaged Texas, killing dozens as local NWS offices were understaffed and facing vacancies in key roles (The New York Times).