SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The nominee to run the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, was in the hot seat this week. His Senate confirmation hearing came just days after floods devastated central Texas. NPR's Alejandra Borunda reports.
ALEJANDRA BORUNDA, BYLINE: The floods that killed over a hundred people in Texas were top of mind at Neil Jacobs' nomination hearing. Jacobs is an atmospheric scientist who ran NOAA for part of the first Trump administration. Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He opened the hearing focused on the floods.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TED CRUZ: There's no mission that is more important, particularly concerning weather-related events, than early detection, knowing what is happening and improving the ability to notify people in harm's way and get them out of the way.
BORUNDA: Jacobs agreed. He said he would prioritize improving warnings.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NEIL JACOBS: Even if you have a perfect forecast, if you can't get the information to the people, it's totally useless.
BORUNDA: But how he'll do that is an open question because the agency Jacobs may soon run has been battered. It has lost more than a thousand staff since January, when the Trump administration began slashing the size of federal government. The National Weather Service, which is part of NOAA and responsible for emergency weather forecasting, has lost hundreds of employees, including meteorologists and people who help get weather information out to communities. Senators from both sides of the aisle expressed concerns. In response, Jacob said repeatedly...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JACOBS: If confirmed, I will ensure that staffing the Weather Service offices is its top priority.
BORUNDA: He said less about whether he would protect the other parts of the agency, like the programs that manage the country's fisheries or its climate research, although he did acknowledge the role of humans in driving climate change when New Jersey Democrat Andy Kim asked.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANDY KIM: So you see human influence being part of the concern when it comes to climate change, when it comes to extreme weather?
JACOBS: Yes, there's influence.
BORUNDA: Trump has proposed cutting NOAA's budget by 27% next year and eliminating its research wing. NOAA researchers work on ways to improve hurricane forecasts and protect corals and even improve weather forecasting. Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, asked Jacobs...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ED MARKEY: Dr. Jacobs - yes or no - do you support these cuts?
JACOBS: Yes, I support the president's budget.
BORUNDA: But when asked whether NOAA is spending too much or too little on research, Jacobs said this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JACOBS: Oh, I don't know that you could spend too much on the research.
BORUNDA: Rick Spinrad held the NOAA leader position during the Biden administration. He says the proposed cuts would hamstring the agency's work.
RICK SPINRAD: I continue to be confounded by how this administration believes they can do more - not more with less, more with nothing.
BORUNDA: So Spinrad hopes Jacobs, should he be confirmed, would protect NOAA and its staff from further disruption. But he's not sure how much Jacobs will be able to do, given the Trump administration's stated priorities for the agency.
Alejandra Borunda, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.