Nine members of the Maryland federal delegation signed onto a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary urging them “to defend the independence, integrity and existence of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) against unlawful attacks by Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”
The Feb. 6 letter was addressed to Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary-Designate Howard Lutnick and Acting DOC Secretary Jeremy Pelter.
According to news reports, DOGE staffers visited NOAA’s office in Downtown Silver Spring this week.
“Unvetted and unknown DOGE bureaucrats on Musk’s landing team have been visiting NOAA’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, which we represent, reportedly with the intent to break up NOAA and move its functions into the Department of the Interior, an idea that you explicitly rejected in your Congressional testimony and would require Congressional approval,” the legislators wrote.
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and Reps. Jamie Raskin, Steny Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume, Glenn Ivey, Sara Elfreth, April McClain Delaney and Johnny Olszewski also noted, “…NOAA is essential to American life, science, and commerce. It is the backbone of the nation’s weather-reporting infrastructure. Americans rely on the National Weather Service’s forecasts to plan for a myriad of day-to-day activities and billions of dollars of economic endeavors, including construction, farming and fishing. Our businesses can’t pour a foundation, plant crops, or head out to sea without accurate weather information.”
The federal legislators invited Lutnick and Pelter to visit NOAA with them to learn more about the agency’s mission.
