The IT systems at the country’s top science agency are now reportedly in the hands of Elon Musk and his associates at the Department of Government Efficiency.
That’s according to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who told ABC News that at least one DOGE associate has entered the Department of Commerce – the agency that houses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.
DOGE's mission, now that they have gained access inside NOAA, is to search for anything diversity-related and determine whether the agency has complied with President Donald Trump’s executive orders scrubbing diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives from the federal government, ABC News reported.
That includes searching "for anything tied to DEI and whether they have removed anything DEI-related from bulletin boards, including posters and signs," and checks to ensure bathroom signs also follow Trump’s orders.
The latest invasion of a federal agency by the DOGE chair was confirmed by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Jared Huffman (D-CA), and other NOAA employees still working at the agency.
"Elon Musk and his DOGE hackers are ransacking their way through the federal government, unlawfully gaining unfettered access to Americans' private information and gutting programs people depend on,” Lofgren and Huffman wrote in a statement obtained by ABC News. "Now they have reached NOAA where they're wreaking havoc on the scientific and regulatory systems that protect American families' safety and jobs."
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And more changes could be on the way.
Democratic staff for the House Science, Space and Technology Committee told the news network that “personnel changes are being made” at NOAA. Dismantling the agency without the approval of Congress would be unlawful, they said.
“The committee is investigating efforts to remove employees or changes that would negatively impact the agency's mission and is trying to determine if this is ‘another USAID situation,’” ABC News reported.
"Americans rely on NOAA's services, day in and day out," Lofgren and Huffman said. "The National Weather Service warns communities of incoming severe weather, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes. It provides information to emergency managers and decision-makers to support our nation's commerce – including aviation weather forecasts to prevent weather-related aviation disasters."