Fired workers are reinstated at NOAA, creating confusion on heels of storms

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration workers experienced a kind of whiplash as the government tried to reinstate probationary employees who had been fired.

Workers at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration this week experienced a kind of whiplash as the federal government tried to reinstate probationary employees who had been fired.

More than 600 NOAA workers were laid off more than two weeks ago, including some in public safety roles, such as scientists who issue tsunami alerts, hurricane-hunting flight directors and meteorologists in local forecast offices. 

But Thursday, a U.S. district judge in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order, blocking (at least temporarily) the terminations of tens of thousands of workers across agencies and ordering them to be reinstated. The Trump administration said in court Monday that it had moved to reinstate about 24,000 workers affected by the widespread cuts to the federal government’s probationary workforce. (Probationary workers are typically in their first or second years of federal service, but the status also applies to some employees who were recently promoted or hired full-time after having worked as contractors.)

In a court filing, the Commerce Department confirmed that it had reinstated 791 workers, in total, across its agencies, including NOAA.

The reinstatements have added a new layer of confusion at NOAA, which had already halted several services because of staffing issues following the cuts. They included weather balloon launches in Albany, New York; Gray, Maine; and Kotzebue, Alaska, that are critical to support accurate forecasting. The agency also closed several offices.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/noaa-fired-workers-reinstated-weather-storms-rcna197004

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