Amo, Lofgren, Sykes Demand Information from Trump Administration on Forthcoming DOGE Layoffs

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Environment Gabe Amo joined Ranking Members Zoe Lofgren and Emilia Sykes in sending a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) demanding that the agency disclose their reduction in force (RIF) plans with the Committee immediately. Per the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) February 26th memo, the Trump administration is requiring that all federal agencies develop reorganization plans by March 13, 2025. 

“We write to you in advance of the March 13, 2025, deadline for Agency Reorganization Plans,” said the lawmakers in the letter. “As leaders on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, we are extremely concerned that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will seek to slash and burn core functions of NOAA to sacrifice the agency at the altar of their twisted idea of ‘efficiency.’ It is imperative that you stand up for NOAA's critical work and ensure that the Agency Reorganization Plan does not compromise the agency’s ability to carry out Congressionally authorized activities and advance our nation’s public safety, economic prosperity, and national security.”

The Members emphasized that any actions taken by agency leaders to comply with Co-Presidents Trump and Musk’s demands must preserve the critical functions of each agency. Failing to do so would be an illegal impoundment of taxpayer money intended to support federal science agencies’ important work. 

“Congress appropriated NOAA the money to pay staff and fulfill your legal obligations. Firing employees and diminishing your agency past the point where it can function does not deliver money back to the taxpayer; it violates the laws enacted by representatives elected by the American people, and it violates the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. President Trump and Elon Musk are lying to the American people when they claim that terminations, cuts, and cancellations will put more money in Americans’ pockets.”

FULL LETTER BELOW

Vice Admiral Nancy Hann 

Acting Administrator 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
1401 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20230

Dear Vice Admiral Hann, 

We write to you in advance of the March 13, 2025, deadline for Agency Reorganization Plans. As leaders on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, we are extremely concerned that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will seek to slash and burn core functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to sacrifice the agency at the altar of their twisted idea of “efficiency.” It is imperative that you stand up for NOAA’s critical work and ensure that the Agency Reorganization Plan does not compromise the agency’s ability to carry out Congressionally authorized activities and advance our nation’s public safety, economic prosperity, and national security.

In Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell T. Vought’s February 26, 2025, memorandum, he writes that agencies’ plans should drive “the highest-quality, most efficient delivery of their statutorily-required functions.” In the slapdash, broad, illegal firings of probationary employees across the federal government, agencies terminated many employees who had statutorily obligated responsibilities. Many of these firings across the government have been rescinded – some in response to judicial rulings and administrative actions, and some because the firings were embarrassing and flagrantly in violation of agency missions to contribute to national security and public safety. In short, the probationary firings were a complete fiasco. It is clear that DOGE equates “efficiency” to the number of bodies it forces out the door – through illegal firings or coercion. It falls to you to stand up for the important mission of your agency.

You know very well how important the mission of NOAA is. Without NOAA, every single natural disaster and extreme weather event would claim innumerably more lives. The weather forecasts and warnings are critical for disaster preparedness and emergency response, and NOAA weather research continues to improve the accuracy and reliability of forecasts. NOAA satellites provide information that informs aviation weather forecasts that keep planes in the air, and they monitor Earth’s orbit to maintain space situational awareness. It is absolutely critical that these and other functions are not eliminated or de facto eliminated due to reductions in force that make it impossible for NOAA to continue its work.

NOAA’s scientific mandate is an essential part of American competitiveness. We are locked in a race with China to ensure that the next wave of great technological breakthroughs happen here in the United States. Our national security and our economic prosperity depend on American scientists remaining at the forefront of global scientific innovation, so that the defining knowledge and technologies of the 21st Century are shaped by American values rather than the values of our rivals. If NOAA loses its capacity to stay at the forefront of oceanic, atmospheric, and climate research, it will be a generational setback for American interests, and we will be less safe and less prepared. We cannot expect to lead the way in these critical fields if we fire the scientists, close the offices, and attack the science underpinning that leadership. China is investing more, not less, in critical science. You must defend NOAA’s ability to not just stay in the game, but to win it.

Congress appropriated NOAA the money to pay staff and fulfill your legal obligations. Firing employees and diminishing your agency past the point where it can function does not deliver money back to the taxpayer; it violates the laws enacted by representatives elected by the American people, and it violates the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. President Trump and Elon Musk are lying to the American people when they claim that terminations, cuts, and cancellations will put more money in Americans’ pockets. As Acting Administrator of NOAA, you are obligated to spend the money appropriated to your agency as Congress intended. You must ensure your Agency Reorganization Plan does not break the law.

In order to conduct oversight of NOAA’s ability to uphold its mission and legal obligations, we request that you provide the Committee your Agency Reorganization Plan immediately upon transmitting it to OMB and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). We also request that you brief Committee staff, within one week of the plan’s transmittal to OMB and OPM, on how NOAA created the plan, any analysis performed to inform the plan, and the projected impact of the plan on NOAA workforce and activities.

Pursuant to Rule X of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology “shall review and study on a continuing basis laws, programs, and Government activities relating to nonmilitary research and development.” The Committee possesses jurisdiction over “environmental research and development, marine research … outer space, including exploration and control thereof,” and the National Weather Service. If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Sara Palasits or Kristi Parrott with the Committee’s Minority staff at (202) 225-6375. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.  

Sincerely,