The Trump administration has made drastic cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that threaten to impact weather forecasting and other key services provided by the agency.

In the wake of the wave of dismissals this week, lawmakers and former officials raised concerns about potential damage to services ranging from extreme weather responses to efforts to prevent objects from colliding in space.

Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), the sole meteorologist in Congress, said in an interview with The Hill that the firings are “going to put the lives of my constituents in danger, period, full stop.”

NOAA and the Commerce Department, which houses it, have not disclosed how many people were cut or which offices they belonged to.

Nevertheless, a source with direct knowledge told The Hill that the original list of probationary employees submitted for dismissal comprised some 1,100 workers, and the original Thursday round of firings affected up to 800 people.

Speaking with reporters on Friday, Rick Spinrad, who led NOAA under the Biden administration, put the figure at at least 600.

These numbers put the cuts at between 5 percent and 9 percent of the agency’s 12,000-person staff.

Spinrad said all six of NOAA’s line offices were affected.

These offices are the National Weather Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, National Ocean Service, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

Another source with knowledge also told The Hill that the........

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