May 13, 2025 — Staff and budget cuts are fraying local offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to several scientists inside the agency. The cuts are already leading to degraded weather forecasts and adding chaos to commercial fisheries.
And they said additional cuts proposed by the Trump administration could throw New England commercial fisheries, scientific research and weather forecasting into further disarray, threatening lives and livelihoods throughout the region.
Current NOAA employees describe a “grim” and “chaotic” atmosphere: contracts cancelled without warning; colleagues fired, rehired and fired again; and a brief lapse in a janitorial contract that led to an email request that staffers clean the restrooms.