Full-disk snapshot of Earth’s Western Hemisphere captured by GOES-17 using the Advanced Baseline Imager instrument. Photo Credit: NOAA/NASA

Members of Congress raised the alarm over reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) representatives were onsite at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Wednesday. 

The Guardian and Axios reported on Wednesday that DOGE representatives were going through IT systems on Wednesday at NOAA’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

“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. Now they have reached NOAA where they’re wreaking havoc on the scientific and regulatory systems that protect American families’ safety and jobs,” Representatives Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said in a statement. 

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen issued a statement as well: “Hearing reports that Musk’s cronies are targeting NOAA — infiltrating key systems & locking out career employees. NOAA is vital for weather forecasting, scientific research & more. Their critical work saves lives. My team and I are looking into this & we will not stand for it.” 

DOGE has been tasked with cutting government spending, raising alarm among Democratic members of Congress for overreach. 

NOAA operates satellites that provide weather forecasting information across the U.S. and warning for natural disasters. 

Conservative policy document Project 2025 calls for NOAA to be broken up and the National Weather Service (NWS) privatized.