Florida Lawmakers Warn of Hurricane Season Risks Amid Budget Cuts

In response to widespread layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Florida lawmakers have penned an open letter warning the Trump administration of the consequences.

With Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz leading the charge, eight Democratic House members have said that the budget cuts for the NOAA could prove catastrophic for the hurricane-prone state.

In a statement regarding the letter, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz said, "Florida is ground zero for climate change-driven extreme storms, and I'm appalled President Trump is weakening our nation's weather forecasting resources and inviting needless added risk to property and lives."

She also claimed that she tried to get her Republican colleagues to sign onto the letter but they all refused. The eight lawmakers who did sign the letter are: Florida U.S. Representatives Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Miramar, Kathy Castor of Tampa, Maxwell Frost of Orlando, Lois Frankel of Boca Raton, Jared Moskowitz of Parkland, Darren Soto of Orlando, and Frederica Wilson of Miami Gardens.

According to former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, over 600 employees have been fired since President Donald Trump took office. The letter states, "These cuts, particularly those affecting meteorologists and weather forecasters, pose an immediate and severe threat to hurricane preparedness and response in Florida and across the nation. Florida is no stranger to the devastating impacts of hurricanes, and our communities depend on NOAA's accurate and timely forecasting to make life-saving decisions."

Neither President Trump nor his administration has responded to the letter, but NOAA is not unique in its budget cuts. The Trump administration pledged on the campaign trail to cut down on bureaucracy and "government inefficiency," going so far as to establish an initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Both President Trump and Musk have claimed "massive waste and fraud" in government spending and claimed to have discovered "billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse." As a result, more than 280,000 government employees and contractors have been laid off.

You can read Wasserman Schultz's full letter to the Trump administration here.