a recent interview with SpaceNews<\/a>, Volz said he had \u201cno insight\u201d into why he was placed on leave last July.<\/p>\n\u201cNo one at NOAA or the Department of Commerce has reached out to share with me the results of their investigation,\u201d he said. \u201cAs far as I know, I\u2019m still the assistant administrator of NESDIS.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacobs, in a presentation to NOAA\u2019s Science Advisory Board lasting more than an hour March 10, did not discuss the status of Volz or NESDIS. He said little about satellite programs during the meeting but said the morale of the NOAA workforce was a priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy top priority is morale. I think the agency is in a much better place than it was a couple of months ago,\u201d he said, but did not elaborate on that assessment.<\/p>\n
At the rally, Volz was critical of the actions NOAA has taken since he was put on leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince my ousting, planned instruments that would measure air quality, water quality and the like have been canceled, all without congressional approval,\u201d he said. \u201cOur organization is undergoing a massive restructuring, but not focused on replacing the tens of thousands of scientists and engineers who either retired, took the buyout, were pushed out or encouraged to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn effort is underway to divert significant federal funds from our government systems to for-profit companies that can make money on them and on the information that we should be getting as a privilege, as a right,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He said he was concerned about a \u201cgreat silencing\u201d across the government as members of the workforce who remain at science agencies find their ability to speak out and share information restricted.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to do their work, but they\u2019re not allowed to,\u201d he said. \u201cThe public only hears alternative facts, and we will all be hurt by this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond Volz\u2019s speech, NOAA and NASA were mentioned only in passing during the two-hour rally, which featured speakers ranging from scientists to members of Congress and drew an audience of a few hundred people.<\/p>\n
Some speakers noted that proposed severe cuts to science programs in the White House\u2019s fiscal year 2026 budget, such as a nearly 50% cut to NASA\u2019s science directorate, were overridden by Congress. A final 2026 appropriations bill largely restored NASA science funding to 2025 levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to push back and reject those cuts in the budget we passed on Capitol Hill,\u201d said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., ranking member of the commerce, justice and science appropriations subcommittee, at the rally.<\/p>\n
However, he warned that more cuts may be on the way in the upcoming fiscal year 2027 budget proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not out of the woods yet,\u201d he said, citing comments by Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, about seeking to inflict \u201ctrauma\u201d on federal employees. \u201cWe do need to keep pushing back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m no longer leading the satellite program, and I\u2019m sad about that, but I am talking to experts in the scientific diaspora every day,\u201d Volz said at the rally. \u201cWe work to protect and sustain the knowledge of what has been lost or is at risk, and we\u2019re working to reconstruct a new and better global observing system.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 The head of NOAA\u2019s satellite division, on administrative leave for more than half a year, warned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[233742,8477,79,722,193],"class_list":["post-516946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-nesdis","tag-noaa","tag-science","tag-sn","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}