Moskowitz, Sorensen Lead 25-Member Letter Urging Admin to Reinstate Laid-Off NOAA and NWS Employees Critical to Disaster Preparedness and Response 

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressmen Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23) and Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17) announced that they are leading 23 of their House colleagues to push for the reinstatement of laid-off workers at the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). With hurricane season on its way, the group argues that failing to overturn these workforce cuts “weaken[s] disaster preparedness, put[s] more lives at risk, and increase[s] the financial burden on recovering communities.”

Their push comes as Elon Musk’s DOGE has sought to lay off thousands of NOAA and NWS staff—including meteorologists, engineers, and flight crews—and shutter dozens of NOAA and NWS offices. South Florida is home to NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, which Moskowitz visited in Miami in the lead up to last year’s hurricane season. Before coming to Congress, Moskowitz served as Florida’s statewide emergency management director, and Sorensen served as a local TV meteorologist in Illinois.

In their letter to Office of Management & Budget Director Russell Vought and Acting Administrator of the General Services Administrator Stephen Ehikian, Rep. Moskowitz, Rep. Sorensen, and their colleagues note the importance of NWS and NOAA in preparing for extreme weather events like hurricanes: “These agencies provide critical forecasting that supports emergency response efforts, saves lives, and mitigates damage during severe weather events… These cuts leave emergency responders and residents with less time to act, putting more people at risk of injury and even death.”

Weakening NOAA and NWS, they say, will also not save money: “It will result in higher disaster recovery costs, increased insurance premiums, and preventable economic losses.” With insurance companies depending on NOAA data to assess climate risks and set coverage rates, a lack of reliable forecasting could prompt insurers to withdraw from high-risk areas or dramatically raise premiums on hardworking families.

Already, cuts at NOAA and NWS have borne consequences that affect emergency preparedness and could risk lives on the ground: weather balloon launches have been suspended; Hurricane Hunter aircraft have been operating with reduced crew; and local forecast offices have scaled back critical services that could delay or reduce severe weather alerts.

The Congressmen conclude their letter urging immediate reconsideration of the layoffs at NOAA and NWS to keep families safe: “This decision should be immediately reconsidered. Investing in these agencies will help safeguard communities, support emergency responders who rely on accurate forecasting, and strengthen the nation’s ability to respond to severe weather. The true cost of cutting or eliminating critical NOAA and NWS services will be far greater than the cost of maintaining them.”

Last month, Moskowitz joined the rest of Florida’s Democratic Congressional delegation to raise alarm about these workforce cuts. In their letter to Vought, the group warned that failing to invest in weather forecasting and emergency preparedness could “weaken our ability to protect lives and property from natural disasters.”

Moskowitz also recently signed on to help lead the National Weather Service Communications Improvement Act. The bipartisan bill from Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA-04) would modernize the National Weather Service’s communications network, NWS Chat, used to disseminate time-sensitive information to broadcasters, emergency managers, and the general public during severe weather events.

Before entering Congress, Moskowitz served as Florida’s Director of Emergency Management from 2019-2021. In this role, Moskowitz oversaw disaster response and recovery for the DeSantis Administration for major events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Category 5 Hurricane Michael.

Since coming to Congress, Moskowitz has been a leading voice for fully funding FEMA, keeping emergency response nonpartisan, and enacting commonsense reforms to bolster federal emergency management, like his bipartisan FEMA Independence Act to remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and reinstate it as an independent Cabinet agency reporting directly to the President. He has served as co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Caucus.

For the group’s full letter to Administration officials, click HERE.

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