Mass layoffs begin at NOAA; effects in Hawaii unknown

The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science.

The firings are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members, according to two people familiar with the situation who declined to be identified for fear of retribution. The notifications went out Thursday afternoon.

(According to NOAA’s website, there are more than 600 federal and contract employees in the Pacific islands, with the majority of the workforce located on Oahu and smaller numbers of employees spread throughout other Hawaiian Islands and U.S. territories.

(NOAA operates the National Weather Service in Honolulu, along with the Central Pacific Hurricane Center and Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

(The National Marine Fisheries Service, an office of NOAA also known as NOAA Fisheries, works to ensure sustainable fisheries and to protect marine life, such as the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, threatened sea turtles and humpback whales. NOAA also manages five marine national monuments in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv­ice and other partners, including Papahanaumoku­akea Marine National Monument.

(A spokesperson from NOAA Fisheries Public Affairs said in an email, “Per long-standing practice, we are not discussing internal personnel matters.”)

A policy analyst at the National Ocean Service, a NOAA agency office near Washington, described a scramble as supervisors frantically tried to help probationary employees download relevant documents such as pay slips and performance reviews before they lost access to computers.

“This loss of talent at NOAA is going to set the agency back years and compromise the integrity of missions that directly support human health and safety, economic prosperity and national security,” the analyst said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “This is not a move toward efficiency; it’s a move toward putting Americans in danger every day.”

The firings are focused on probationary employees, who have been in their jobs for a short period and lack the protections afforded to staff members with longer tenure. As is the case at other agencies, the Trump administration appears to be firing probationary employees at NOAA not because their work is necessarily less valuable than that of other staff members, but because they’re easier to dismiss.

NOAA is part of the Commerce Department. Cuts had been delayed at NOAA and other parts of the department until the new secretary, Howard Lutnick, could come into office. But since Lutnick was sworn in Monday, more layoffs have started to be announced throughout the department, including at the International Trade Administration, which promotes U.S. exports.

The firings Thursday are expected to be just the first wave of departures. Several hundred more staff members are expected to leave today as part of the deferred- resignation program, according to a person familiar with the matter. On top of that, the Trump administration is expected to cancel contracts of workers affiliated with NOAA, which could cost the agency as many as 2,500 personnel.

A spokesperson for NOAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The General Services Administration also did not respond to a request for comment.

“Gutting NOAA will hamstring essential lifesaving programs that forecast storms, ensure ocean safety and prevent the extinction of whales and sea otters,” said Miyoko Sakashita, director of oceans projects at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I think most Americans want these kinds of vital government services protected, and we’ll do everything we can to defend them.”

NOAA has been singled out for especially deep cuts by members of the Trump administration. Project 2025, the policy blueprint published by the Heritage Foundation that is reflected in many of the actions taken by the Trump administration so far, calls the agency “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.” The document urges that NOAA be dismantled and some of its programs be terminated.

Project 2025 also suggested commercializing the weather service, one of the agency’s most well-known arms, which provides weather forecasts and lifesaving warnings.

Among the authors of the policy blueprint are many people who now hold senior roles in the Trump administration.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Honolulu Star-Advertiser staff writer Nina Wu contributed to this report.

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