National Weather Service Potential Staff Cuts

The Trump (R) Administration is Reorganizing the National Weather Service (NWS) and making Changes to Forecasting, while a Key Union Representative Warns the Reorganization could involve potential Staff Cuts.

Federal Employees at the NWS’s Weather Forecast Offices, which provide People with Local Forecasts and Severe Weather Warnings, have learned about Impending Changes to their Baseline Staffing levels as part of the Transformation coming to the Weather service, said Tom Fahy, Legislative Director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization (NWSEO).

While the Administration acknowledged that it is undergoing a Reorganization, it Denies that the Weather Service faces Staff Cuts. “There are no staff cuts planned at NWS. In fact, we are hiring,” NWS Spokesperson Erica Grow Cei said in an email.

“Since late 2025, NWS has been hiring and onboarding a targeted number of meteorologists and other positions deemed necessary for operational continuity. We have filled over 200 positions since then,” Grow Cei added.

She acknowledged that there would be a Reorganization, which she said would “streamline administrative and management functions to promote greater accountability and Improve Efficiency. These are all a matter of atmospheric changes that are taking place, and the Weather Service has to be able to respond to them,”She added.

At the same time, the Weather Service appears to be Automating at least some of its Forecasts. An 4/8/2026 Forecast out of Montana noted that “The forecast beyond day 4 has little to no human intervention (per NWS policy) and should be used with caution.” The Shift saw Pushback among at least some Meteorologists.

“These changes disturb me about what kind of quality we’re going to continue to see” in Weather Forecasts, said Troy Kimmel, an Independent Incident Response Meteorologist and former Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “It’s a day-by-day process you have to go through and look at the models [and] see how they’re performing,” Kimmel said, expressing Concerns that Locally based Meteorologists would be Cut-Out of Forecasts that are more than a few days away.

Last year, as part of its Efforts to Shrink the Size of the Federal Government, the Trump (R) Administration Fired Hundreds of People at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including NWS Staff. It later said that it was seeking to Reassign People to fill Roles at “critically understaffed” Weather Service Offices. It later decided to Hire more People. The Original Cuts received Significant Pushback.

Meanwhile, during His Confirmation Hearing, NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said He would “ensure that staffing the Weather Service offices is a top priority. It’s really important for the people to be there because they have relationships with the people in the local community,” Jacobs said in 2025.

Testifying before Congress on 4/22/2026, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (R) was asked about the Weather Service’s response to Tornadoes in Michigan. “We do not have staffing issues,” said Lutnick, whose Commerce Department oversees the Weather Service. “We are 24/7 across this great nation because the job of the National Weather Service is to protect the safety of America.”










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