Commerce Secretary Ross Threatens to Fire NOAA Scientists Who Contradicted Trump's False Hurricane Claim

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to fire top officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) unless they backed President Donald Trump’s false claim that Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama. Ross called acting NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs on September 6, 2019, and told him to “fix” the National Weather Service’s contradiction of Trump’s claim. When Jacobs opposed the demand, Ross told him NOAA’s political staff would be fired. This political interference came after Trump showed reporters a weather map on September 4 that had been altered with a black Sharpie marker to falsely show the hurricane on track to hit Alabama.

Background

The controversy began on September 1, 2019, when Trump incorrectly included Alabama as a state that would likely be hit by Hurricane Dorian, despite meteorological data showing no threat to the state. When the National Weather Service’s Birmingham office properly corrected Trump’s false claim - issuing a public safety message that Alabama was not threatened - the White House demanded NOAA undermine its own scientists. Under Ross’s pressure, NOAA issued an unsigned September 6 statement declaring that NWS Birmingham’s tweet “spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available.” This statement prioritized political loyalty over public safety during an active hurricane emergency.

NOAA’s acting chief scientist, Craig N. McLean, announced he would investigate how the statement was issued, noting “The content of this press release is very concerning as it compromises the ability of NOAA to convey life-saving information necessary to avoid substantial and specific danger to public health and safety.” A subsequent Commerce Department Inspector General report found that the scandal “damaged NOAA’s credibility and may have undercut public trust in the agency’s apolitical weather forecasting.” The IG determined that both Neil Jacobs and Julie Kay Roberts, NOAA’s former deputy chief of staff and communications director, twice violated the agency’s scientific integrity policy.

Significance

Ross’s threats represented an unprecedented political attack on scientific integrity at a federal agency responsible for life-saving weather forecasts. By demanding scientists retract accurate public safety information to protect Trump’s ego, Ross subordinated public safety to political expediency. This episode exemplified the Trump administration’s systematic undermining of scientific expertise and evidence-based policymaking across federal agencies. The willingness to threaten career civil servants with termination for doing their jobs - providing accurate weather information during a deadly hurricane - demonstrated contempt for both professional expertise and public safety. The Inspector General’s findings of scientific integrity violations confirmed that political appointees corrupted NOAA’s mission to serve political interests rather than protect American lives.