The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is now scrutinizing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency responsible for forecasting the weather, researching and analyzing climate and weather data and monitoring and tracking extreme weather events like hurricanes, several sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
At least one member of DOGE has entered the Department of Commerce — the agency that houses NOAA — and was granted access to NOAA’s IT systems, according to U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who is the ranking member of a subcommittee with jurisdiction over NOAA. The DOGE move was also confirmed by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee; Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., ranking member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee; and other current NOAA employees.
DOGE was first denied access to the NOAA IT servers but now has access, according to two sources familiar with the situation. DOGE is looking for anything tied to DEI and whether they have removed anything DEI-related from bulletin boards, including posters and signs, the sources said. They also checked bathroom signs to ensure they complied with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
“Elon Musk and his DOGE hackers are ransacking their way through the federal government, unlawfully gaining unfettered access to Americans’ private information and gutting programs people depend on,” Lofgren and Huffman wrote in a press statement. “Now they have reached NOAA where they’re wreaking havoc on the scientific and regulatory systems that protect American families’ safety and jobs.”
Signage outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Weather and Climate Prediction headquarters in College Park, Md., Dec. 5, 2024.
Michael A. McCoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Personnel changes are being made at the agency, Democratic staff for the House Science, Space and Technology Committee told ABC News, adding that dismantling NOAA without an act of Congress would be unlawful. The committee is investigating efforts to remove employees or changes that would negatively impact the agency’s mission and is trying to determine if this is “another USAID situation.”
NOAA has not returned a request for comment from ABC News.
As of Wednesday midday, several key NOAA websites are currently down, including the one that stores global CO2 level data collected at the Mauna Loa Observatory, the longest-running CO2 dataset that goes back to 1958.
NOAA’s public information officer at David Skaggs Research Center, which houses the Earth Systems Research Labs, said the offline websites are part of scheduled maintenance and that a power outage temporarily interrupted internet services.
“During this outage, the National Weather Service office in Pueblo will be performing service backup so that all forecast products and information will be seamlessly available across Boulder’s area of responsibility. Other websites hosted by the Global Monitoring Laboratory, Global Systems Laboratory, Chemical Sciences Laboratory and Physical Sciences Laboratory will be offline until power is restored,” they said.
Signage outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Weather and Climate Prediction headquarters in College Park, Md., Dec. 5, 2024.
Michael A. McCoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NOAA manages the National Weather Service, the primary source for forecasts and meteorological data. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information is the world’s largest provider of weather and climate data. Climate scientists depend on the information to better understand how climate change impacts our planet.
“Americans rely on NOAA’s services, day in and day out,” Lofgren and Huffman said. “The National Weather Service warns communities of incoming severe weather, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes. It provides information to emergency managers and decision-makers to support our nation’s commerce – including aviation weather forecasts to prevent weather-related aviation disasters.”
In a recent interview with ABC News, South Carolina Emergency Management Division Chief of Preparedness Andrew Phillips said, “We’re really in communication with [NOAA] all throughout the year for different events, including hurricanes.”
“NOAA is a vital piece of our communication strategy,” said Jennifer Brady, senior data analyst and research manager at the nonprofit research group Climate Central. “Their data is vetted, it’s verified. So, we know we can use it and trust it in our reports.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen speaks to the media outside the USAID building, after billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading President Donald Trump’s drive to shrink the federal government, said work is underway to shut down the U.S. foreign aid agency USAID, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2025.
A former NOAA employee told ABC News that he is concerned that representatives from DOGE will follow the Elon Musk strategy of breaking things now and fixing them later. He said he’s worried that NOAA’s irreplaceable climate and weather data could be damaged or lost and that DOGE may follow the Project 2025 playbook.
Project 2025 was a plan developed by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, before the election. The group called it an “agenda prepared by and for conservatives who will be ready on Day One of the next Administration to save our country.”
During his campaign, Trump disavowed the plan and said he is not involved with the effort. However, his nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, was one of the authors.
Project 2025 called for breaking up NOAA and commercializing forecast operations. The document states that NOAA is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.” And they added, “That is not to say NOAA is useless, but its current organization corrupts its useful functions. It should be broken up and downsized.”
During his confirmation hearing, Howard Lutnick, Trump’s pick to lead the Commerce Department, told senators that he would not follow the Project 2025 recommendations nor break up NOAA. Lutnick is awaiting his final senate confirmation vote.
ABC News’ Matthew Glasser, Julia Jacobo, Kelly Livingston, Will Steakin, Dan Peck and Ginger Zee contributed to this report.
