In the wake of the recent Texas flash flooding that has claimed at least 119 lives and left scores of others still missing, two of President Donald Trump’s nominees to weather-related posts are defending the administration’s budget cuts from Democrats’ criticism.
At a Senate commerce committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., went on the offensive, questioning Neil Jacobs, Trump’s nominee to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on whether budget cuts harm preparedness for natural disasters.
Markey has long been a major player in the Democrats’ climate politics, having chaired the now-defunct House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming from 2007 to 2011 and served as the Senate sponsor of the “Green New Deal” resolution drafted in 2019.
The Massachusetts Democrat also was a vocal opponent of Lee Zeldin’s appointment as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The Trump administration wants to cut NOAA’s budget by 27%,” said Markey. “Yes or no: Do you support these cuts?”
“Yes, I support the president’s budget,” Jacobs replied.
Asked by Markey whether he thought the cuts would harm readiness, Jacobs defended the administration’s work, arguing that it was restructuring departments, not cutting disaster-response resources.
“A lot of that work is being transitioned in from the research side to the operation side, so the National Weather Service, the National Ocean Service, their mission-essential functions will continue,” he said.
But Markey squarely rejected this answer, arguing any such cut would harm readiness.
“I have to disagree with you,” he replied. “A 27% cut is going to have an impact, because there’s a definite ripple effect that occurs when that kind of funding is slashed. Weather readiness without funding is a hallucination.”
Markey also sparred with Taylor Jordan, Trump’s pick to be assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction, chiding him for “adopting the social media handle ‘@thegreatesthoax,’” a reference to global warming.
“It was a young man’s attempt at wit,” said Jordan. “There’s really no deeper meaning.”
Markey was not amused.
“If you want to be a comedian, you should go to open mic night at a local club, because this is serious business. The greatest hoax is not in any way a joke. It’s an attempt to undermine legitimate climate science,” he said.
