The primary agency that tracks hurricanes could be on thin ice with DOGE: NOAA former deputy director said staff blew past security ‘like it didn’t apply to them’

Head of the Department of Government Efficiency at Donald Trump's inauguration. (Credit: Kenny Holston—Pool/Getty Images)

• The Trump administration appears poised to make cuts to the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A DOGE employee now has edit access to NOAA documents and the agency has been ordered to halt its international communication. NOAA officials told CBS News that the organization will be forced to lay off more than 6,000 employees and expects 30% budget cuts.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been in the offices of another government agency this week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to a joint statement from congressional leaders and CBS News. The agency was established in 1970 and its remit is to research weather, oceans, and the Earth’s atmosphere and operate the National Weather Service. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center monitors tropical weather systems, and relies on its Hurricane Hunter planes to issue forecasts and warnings to U.S. residents before severe storms and hurricanes.