The Trump administration is seeking to reassign other employees to “critically understaffed” offices in the National Weather Service (NWS), according to an internal document.
The move to reassign these other employees comes after the administration fired hundreds of people at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including some staff at the NWS.
The service is now looking to staff 76 positions, including meteorologists in disaster-prone areas such as Houston and Miami, according to the document, which was reviewed by Science Committee Democratic staff.
In particular, it’s looking for staffers from other parts of NOAA to fill the holes in the weather service.
“This Reassignment Opportunity Notice will non-competitively fill vacancies in critically understaffed operational locations across the National Weather Service,” the document states.
The scramble comes as hurricane season begins next month.
NOAA spokesperson Monica Allen declined to comment, saying that the department does not discuss “internal personnel and management matters.”
“NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience. We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission,” Allen said.
Democrats criticized the memo as potentially damaging to other parts of the agency.
“It basically is asking for people … to repopulate the Weather Service posts that have been destroyed by cannibalizing other parts of NOAA, which will further damage our capacity to respond to a disaster,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Science, Space and Technology Committee.
A previously leaked budget document indicates that the Trump administration is eyeing significant cuts to NOAA, which in addition to the NWS includes oceanic and climate research programs and fishery management.
That document calls for a 27 percent cut overall to the agency and the elimination of its oceanic and atmospheric research office.
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