The weather forecasts you see on TV or the severe storm alerts you get from your apps are powered by a federal science agency that’s in line for some of the most drastic cuts proposed by the Trump administration so far.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employs about 12,000 staffers around the world, more than half of which are scientists and engineers. NOAA operates 18 satellites and 15 ships and has a budget of $6.8 billion. Their job is to study the skies, the seas, the fish, tracking how they’re changing and predicting what will happen to them. NOAA’s work is essential for aviation, fishing, climate research, and offshore oil and gas exploration, particularly when it comes to modeling weather.

“You and your family and friends depend upon NOAA people even if you are unaware of what they do,” Jane Lubchenco, who led NOAA under President Obama, wrote to Vox in an email.

Staffers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been targeting probationary employees for job cuts across the federal government. There are around 216,000 workers with this status, close to 10 percent of the total federal workforce. Thousands of workers have already been fired across the federal government already across divisions like the National Park Service and the Department of Energy. About 75,000 staffers accepted deferred resignation offers.

But the potential cuts at NOAA go beyond that. CBS News reported that NOAA employees were told to prepare for staffing to halve and for budgets to shrink by 30 percent. One source inside the agency who asked to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak to the press told Vox that some weather offices at NOAA would be eliminated entirely.

“There’s going to be some interruptions and declines in the quality of service because we’ll have offices that are understaffed. That’s a big risk for the weather service,” said Timothy Gallaudet, who served as acting administrator for NOAA during President Donald Trump’s first term. “Our weather satellites, they’re vital for public safety, and any interruption to their maintenance and operation could be a problem too.”

Though it performs valuable jobs, NOAA is at the intersection of the broader push to shrink the government, an ideological fight over climate change, and possibly a personal grievance with the president himself.

The cuts could have far-reaching consequences for the US economy and the safety of Americans as extreme weather lands on increasingly populated areas. “NOAA does great things that are affecting every American, every day, in a positive way,” Gallaudet said. With the drastic cuts some in the Trump administration want at the agency, “everything would........

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