The Harms of DOGE's Cuts to the NWS

What happened:

In May of 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency laid off 550 National Weather Service employees, many of whom were specialists in their field, such as hydrologists and meteorologists. Considering the fact that the NWS had about 4000, this left them severely understaffed and was, unsurprisingly, a massive blow to them, their productivity and their ability to keep people safe. And this is not taking into account that about 40% of national weather service offices are already facing staffing shortages. Now, and this is the part that gets me, the New York Times states, and I quote “The reductions cut across two vital functions of the agency: the work of collecting the data used to make forecasts, and the people who turn that data into crucial warnings when extreme weather is on the way.” So. This is not good. 

Why does this matter:

So, normally I do why this happened, but who knows why DOGE does stuff. I'm not even going to try to figure out the thought process that led them into thinking ‘hmm, let's cut staff from an agency that is already understaffed and have them stop giving warning when there is extreme weather.’ Anyways, what I’m answering, why does this matter? After all, this happened in May of 2025, its old news. I’m answering why does this matters now, and the answer dear listeners, is tornadoes. You see, there has been a massive outbreak. In fact, while I’m writing this, there is quite literally a tornado watch. May have been part of why I chose this topic. On a normal year, between January and April, there are on average 337 actual tornadoes. This year, and mind you it's only mid-March, there have been 552. 60 lives have been claimed. And the National Weather Service cannot properly send out notifications.  

My Take: 

Screw DOGE. I mean, i bet you kind of guessed this was my take, but I just wanted to confirm that you all knew. Who in their right minds (and by that, I mean with half a braincell, and DOGE has none) cuts funding from the weather agency that lets people know when tornadoes are coming. Like, come on. I know this has been a short post, but that was kind of it.