DOGE rumors at NOAA spark protest

Protestors gathered at Boulder’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) campus Monday after rumors circulated that officials from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would be onsite. 

Rep. Joe Neguse came to the campus and said in a video statement released that day on YouTube that he had met with personnel from NOAA and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), and “was told that DOGE’s personnel were not on scene today and have not entered the campus.”

“That being said, we know that NOAA, NIST and our federal labs remain targets of DOGE and this administration in their efforts to deconstruct the laboratories and the agencies that are serving the American public,” he said. “So, make no mistake, we’re going to continue to stay on it. We’re going to do everything that we can to prevent the disastrous cuts that the Trump administration has proposed.”

Last week, The Washington Post reported a White House proposal to cut NOAA’s budget by 27% and eliminate the research branch of the organization. 

NOAA also houses the National Weather Service and provides climate data, severe storm warnings, weather forecasts and a vast range of technology and research to help “understand and predict changes in climate, weather, ocean, and coasts,” according to the agency’s website.

Already, probationary NOAA staff and other federal employees have been fired, reinstated and then re-fired. More than 1,300 NOAA staffers have resigned or been fired, and the Trump administration is planning to cut another 1,000 workers, according to media reports.