Ranking Member Huffman Statement on Billionaire-Backed Plan to Dismantle Key NOAA Weather Services

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. House Natural Resources Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) issued the following statement following reports that key NOAA websites and databases will go dark at midnight under the Trump administration's proposed contract cuts:

"Three reckless billionaires – Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump, and DOGE vandal Elon Musk – are dismantling one of our government’s most important public functions, the National Weather Service. The data management contracts they are cancelling include critical weather and climate data, geographic information, and extensive modeling infrastructure that enables end users to utilize these data. As we heard in our forum on Wednesday, those who depend on NOAA weather tools include the Department of Defense, first responders, and local businesses across the country. Trump and his oligarchs are clearing the way for their corporate mega-polluter cronies by erasing science and scientists, pushing America into the dark ages. They are delivering another Project 2025 promise but betraying the American people by making us less safe and shredding our global scientific leadership. Secretary Lutnick should be working to maintain and expand NOAA’s lifesaving data and services, instead of burning this critical agency to the ground. Lutnick must reverse course on NOAA or resign and go back to Wall Street."

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