President Donald Trump’s nominee to head NOAA pledged Wednesday to fully staff the National Weather Service, after catastrophic Texas floods triggered a new wave of criticism over the president’s deep cuts across government. Administration critics have wondered whether efforts to reduce the federal workforce and eliminate programs affected the government’s ability to warn residents. … Jacobs, whose background is in weather modeling, has advocated for retooling NOAA’s weather data collection processes, including through greater engagement with private-sector companies that operate their own satellites and would benefit from multibillion-dollar government contracts. … Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told Jacobs that the nation cannot afford to retrench on climate change given its direct impacts on communities facing rising frequency and intensity of storms, floods, droughts, wildfire and other natural disasters.

Other NOAA news:

• The Washington Post: Trump’s NOAA pick stands by budget cuts, calls staffing ‘a top priority’
• Inside Climate News: Trump’s pick to head NOAA faces senators in the wake of multiple weather-stoked disasters
• The New York Times: Recipients of a U.S. climate science fellowship are put on unpaid leave
• NOAA: News release: NOAA Global Systems Laboratory offers new storm surge alert tool
• Fast Company: Blog: Republicans want to privatize weather forecasts. Do Trump appointees stand to benefit?