ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Mass Layoffs Beginning at NOAA
WA state NOAA employee fired for no reason by Trump & Elon: “I’m here because I care. I care about the people and communities that are impacted by reduced or closed fisheries that my work supported. I care about the devastating effects a diminished NOAA may have on Washingtonians and Americans across our country… I care because I am a grandpa and a fisherman, and I want to ensure these resources are perpetuated for the generations following me.”
***WATCH HERE, DOWNLOAD VIDEO HERE***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a virtual press conference with former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Dr. Rick Spinrad, and former NOAA employees in Washington state who were recently fired through no fault of their own and with zero justification as part of Trump and Elon Musk’s unprecedented assault on the federal workforce. About 650 NOAA employees have already been dismissed for no reason by Trump and Elon, with another round of job cuts targeting more than 1,000 additional employees expected.
Joining Senator Murray for today’s press conference were: former NOAA Administrator Dr. Rick Spinrad, Dr. Rebecca Howard, former Research Fish Biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle; Dennis Jaszka, former NOAA Investigative Support Technician for Office of Law Enforcement for the Alaska Division based in Seattle; and Mark Baltzell of Olympia, a former Fisheries Management Specialist at the Sustainable Fisheries Division in the Anadromous Harvest Management Branch at NOAA.
“NOAA scientists play a crucial role protecting our waters, oceans, and our fisheries. The Puget Sound, the Columbia River, they all rely on NOAA. In Washington state, salmon are not just a pillar of our economy—and of the seafood industry that is so prominent in our state—it is also a way of life for our communities, for our tribes, and it’s part of our state identity, So NOAA’s work could not be more important when it comes to that. I think we all know that we can take the weather for granted, we can take our fish and water for granted. But this work is make or break—not just for Washington state, but for our entire country. So, it is beyond alarming to me that right now, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are choosing ‘break’ and taking a wrecking ball to NOAA offices. They are firing public servants they’re firing our experts, they’re closing buildings, like at Port Angeles, and they’re throwing a lot of critical work into jeopardy,” Senator Murray said on today’s press call. “About half of the National Weather Service offices were already understaffed, and then came this hiring freeze and then came the mass firings—and that was just round one. Musk and Trump have already fired 650 NOAA workers—including dozens of people right here in Washington state—with no rhyme or reason, with no clue or concern how it will seriously harm our economy and our communities. And now we are hearing that NOAA intends to lay off another 10 percent of its workforce—that is more than a thousand critical jobs Trump and Elon are putting on the chopping block.”
NOAA has a major footprint in Washington state, employing over 700 people—and communities across Washington state rely on the agency’s work, from providing storm warnings and weather forecasts to protecting and restoring marine resources that are essential to our state’s economy and culture. Senator Murray has been outspoken in calling attention to how Trump and Elon’s indiscriminate mass layoffs are hurting people across the country and will undermine services Americans everywhere rely on.
“The firings, facilities closures, and program terminations currently ongoing by this Administration are misguided, ill-informed, often illegal, and just plain stupid actions. They will also cause great harm. In short, this is ‘All cost, no benefit,’” said Dr. Rick Spinrad, a former NOAA Administrator, who abruptly lost his job because of the Trump administration’s mass firings.
“Our branch is small but mighty. Our work is responsible for regulatory oversight of salmon and steelhead fisheries occurring in the EEZ off the West Coast, the Columbia River, and Puget Sound. An additional significant portion of our work involves implementing the relevant chapters Pacific Salmon Treaty. The work that my branch conducts enables hundreds of millions in economic activity around salmon fisheries coast-wide,” said Mark Baltzell from Olympia, who worked as a Fisheries Management Specialist at the Sustainable Fisheries Division in the Anadromous Harvest Management Branch, before he was abruptly fired for no reason by Trump and Elon on February 27th and given only 68 minutes to pack his office and leave. “I’m here because I care. I care about the people and communities that are impacted by reduced or closed fisheries that my work supported. I care about the devastating effects a diminished NOAA may have on Washingtonians and Americans across our country. I care about the tens of millions of dollars in Federal Money that is funneled through NOAA for salmon recovery, monitoring, hatchery improvements, and supporting fisheries that is in danger of going away. I care because I was in an Agency loaded with people who care and were devoted because they believed in the science and the mission. I care because I am a grandpa and a fisherman, and I want to ensure these resources are perpetuated for the generations following me. Gutting NOAA and the federal government puts all those things that I care about at risk.”
“At the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, I was part of the groundfish bottom trawl survey team. This meant I was involved in the work needed to assess Alaska’s populations of shellfish and groundfish, which are fish that live near the seafloor like pollock, cod, and flatfish. These fish make up not only some of the largest and most valuable fisheries in the country, but also the world. The team I was part of was in the midst of preparing for the two bottom trawl surveys that are expected to happen this summer, as they have for the last four decades. We were busy staffing surveys, preparing scientific equipment and software, setting up staff and volunteer trainings, and making sure we have necessary supplies. This requires an immense amount of time and effort, and is done by a team that was very understaffed and stretched thin even before I was fired. Several NOAA employees who were supposed to participate in the survey were fired, including myself, making it even more challenging to find the necessary staff,” said Dr. Rebecca Howard, former Research Fish Biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, who was fired from her dream job with NOAA for no reason by Trump and Elon on February 27. “If more employees from the bottom trawl teams retire or are fired in upcoming reductions in force, the surveys will be extremely difficult to pull off, if not impossible. And, we have recent examples of how important these kinds of data are. In 2020, the Bering Sea bottom trawl survey did not happen due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This led to a missing year of data and critically, missing information on the snow crab population. As many of you know, the snow crab fishery collapsed in 2021 and consequently, we don’t have a good idea of what their population looked like in 2020. We need these types of data to know how many fish and crabs we can catch each year, where those populations are going as the oceans changes, and to keep track of environmental trends. Firing people like me will make it incredibly hard for NOAA Fisheries to fulfill its mission and provide the best available science.”
“The work I did was essential to Office of Law Enforcement’s efforts to ensure the safety of fisheries observers. While the Alaska Division is spread throughout coastal Alaska, the observer operations staff is mostly located in Seattle. Therefore, one of my main roles was to be the point of contact for enforcement officers. Having an enforcement representative in Seattle is essential to connect people and ensure fisheries observers are familiar with the enforcement arm of NMFS,” said Dennis Jaszka, former NOAA Investigative Support Technician for Office of Law Enforcement for the Alaska Division based in Seattle, who was with NOAA for 26 years before being abruptly fired by Trump and Elon as part of their massive indiscriminate staffing cuts. “The rapport between Alaska Division, the North Pacific Observers, and the Observer support staff is lauded every year as being the gold standard of partnerships between an enforcement division and a scientific division. It was an honor to play such a role in this partnership. But practically speaking, having someone in that position who is familiar with both observer and enforcement operations, is simply the most efficient way to do things. Without a person to represent and connect law enforcement to the observers in Seattle, NMFS loses an opportunity to continue building rapport with observers. Support staff will have no contact with an individual who can answer compliance-related questions. This will result in an excess of complaints being filed. Additionally, the task of reviewing, vetting, and sending documents falls on others who already have a high workload. The whole point of my job was to streamline and educate people in a very proactive way.”
Senator Murray’s full remarks from today’s press conference are below and video is HERE:
“Thank you all for joining me to talk about something people actually rely on every day, they take for granted, and they may not even know the name of—and that is NOAA. NOAA does work that is crucial to our safety, to our economy, and to our everyday lives.
“People all across the state of Washington count on the National Weather Service, which is at NOAA, when you watch the weather forecast on the news and decide whether it’s a great week for hiking or you check the weather app on your phone and grab your umbrella in Seattle—you are relying on NOAA.
“Farmers in Yakima Valley rely on NOAA for seasonal outlooks for crop advice—which means our groceries actually rely on it too. When pilots take off from Sea-Tac airport, or boats head out from our ports, they are consulting NOAA data to prepare for a safe journey.
“When there is a dangerous storm coming, a blizzard, or flooding, or a tsunami, or high winds, local officials and disaster experts use NOAA’s data to help issue public safety guidance, to protect property, and most importantly—to save lives.
“NOAA is also tracking data that is crucial to understanding climate change and showing us how serious this threat is. When we warn that 2024 was the hottest year on record—it’s NOAA that tracks that data so you can know that and people can raise the alarm.
“NOAA scientists also play a crucial role protecting our waters, oceans, and our fisheries. The Puget Sound, the Columbia River, they all rely on NOAA. In Washington state, salmon are not just a pillar of our economy—and of the seafood industry that is so prominent in our state—it is also a way of life for our communities, for our tribes, and it’s part of our state identity—so NOAA’s work could not be more important when it comes to that.
“I think we all know that we can take the weather for granted, we can take our fish and water for granted. But this work is make or break—not just for Washington state, but for our entire country. So, it is beyond alarming to me that right now, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are choosing ‘break’ and taking a wrecking ball to NOAA offices.
“They are firing public servants they’re firing our experts, they’re closing buildings, like at Port Angeles, and they’re throwing a lot of critical work into jeopardy.
“About half of the National Weather Service offices were already understaffed, and then came this hiring freeze and then came the mass firings—and that was just round one.
“Musk and Trump have already fired 650 NOAA workers—including dozens of people right here in Washington state—with no rhyme or reason, with no clue or concern how it will seriously harm our economy and our communities.
“And now we are hearing that NOAA intends to lay off another 10 percent of its workforce—that is more than a thousand critical jobs Trump and Elon are putting on the chopping block.
“Meanwhile—the problems this has already caused are already mounting. NOAA has already had to stop releasing weather balloons due to some staff shortages.
“Here in Washington state, I have heard from fired NOAA employees who worked to support Tribal fish and infrastructure projects, another was an engineering technician who worked to make sure that our radar locations and our forecast offices could produce the data that we all need. Others were fired that worked to educate the public about our coast at the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in Port Angeles—gone.
“A NOAA employee of the year—someone who helped divert orcas from an oil spill off San Juan Island a few years ago—was fired as a result of the fact that she had been promoted in the last year.
“And that is just the tip of the iceberg Trump and Musk are steering us into, as you will hear from the people on this call, who did really important work for our country only to have the rug pulled out from under them by a couple of billionaires without a clue.
“So, I want to again say personally thank you to each one of you. I am really grateful to your years of public service, what you have done for all of us, and I so appreciate you coming here today.
“I know you’re all dealing with personal things as well as a result of being laid off—but I appreciate you coming here today to send one more forecast. And that is a forecast that warns a dark cloud is coming if Trump and Musk don’t reverse this course and reverse the unthinkable damage they are doing to NOAA.”
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