Latest news with #StephenVolz
E&E News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- E&E News
NOAA satellite chief still doesn't know why he's on leave
NOAA's senior-most official overseeing the agency's satellites said Monday morning he remained in the dark about why he was placed on administrative leave last week pending an investigation into his performance. 'All I've seen is what's been reported in the media,' said Stephen Volz, the assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. 'I have no idea what the scope of it is.' Volz and Deputy General Council Jeff Dillen were put on leave Friday. Dillen could not be reached for comment. Advertisement Both men, longtime senior officials at the agency, were involved in an internal NOAA investigation of the agency's handling in 2019 of what became popularly known as 'Sharpiegate,' following then-President Donald Trump's unexplained modification of a NOAA-produced 'cone of projection' map indicating Hurricane Dorian's path could extend into Alabama. That was not NOAA's forecast for the storm, which didn't hit the state.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Two top Noaa officials linked to Trump's ‘Sharpiegate' incident put on leave
Two high-ranking officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were placed on administrative leave on Friday, fueling speculation that the Trump administration was retaliating against them for actions taken during the president's first term. Jeff Dillen, who was serving as deputy general counsel, and Stephen Volz, who heads the agency's satellites division, led the investigation into whether agency administrators abdicated their scientific ethics when they altered the forecast of a deadly hurricane to match statements made by the president. First reported by CNN, the two were placed on leave just days before Neil Jacobs – the former Noaa chief at the center of the scandal – returns for a confirmation hearing as Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency once again. During the 2019 debacle known as 'Sharpiegate', named for erroneous marks added by marker on a National Hurricane Center map to justify incorrect claims made by the president that Hurricane Dorian would reach Alabama – a path not in line with what forecasters initially reported – left a blemish on the science-focused agency's record. The investigation, it was announced in June 2020, found Jacobs and another official had violated the agency's 'scientific integrity policy', when they succumbed to political pressure. On Friday, the agency disputed the association between the officials being placed on leave and Jacobs's nomination. 'Mr Dillen was placed on administrative leave by the department's senior career attorney pending a review of performance issues over the past several weeks,' Noaa's communications director, Kim Doster, said in an email responding to a request for more information about the incident. She added that Volz was placed on leave 'on an unrelated matter'. Doster did not answer questions about the specifics that led to these actions or about whether workers at Noaa were briefed about the decisions. Noaa staffers, who asked for anonymity out of fear of reprisal for speaking out about the issue, told the Guardian they were not told about what happened and had to learn about it on the news. They also questioned the agency's explanation. 'It is laughable that anyone could look at this and say that their situations are 'separate' when both were leads on the Sharpiegate investigation,' one staffer said. 'Both of them are brilliant, dedicated civil servants.' Former Noaa administrator Rick Spinrad, who worked closely with both Dillen and Volz, described their high integrity and dedication to the work that 'kept the agency in great shape'. 'It may just be part of the effort on the administration's part to rattle the cage,' he said, adding that before his departure from the agency there was widespread speculation about how the incoming Trump administration agenda might affect people in leadership positions. Volz, who heads a satellite division, may also have come up against the push for more private sector involvement. 'All that is speculative,' Spinrad said. 'But based on knowing these two individuals as well as I did, I was stunned that they were called out for performance-related issues – that makes no sense at all.' Noaa, long heralded as one of the most important climate research agencies, has become almost unrecognizable under the Trump administration, which hammered its anti-science agenda through a series of severe budget cuts, sharp reductions in staff, and moves to wipe data and resources on the climate crisis from public view. Trump's 'Restoring Gold Standard Science' executive order, a plan that guts scientific independence and grants political appointees greater power over what reaches the public, has further eroded the agency's mission, according to staffers familiar with the policy. Earlier this month, a policy issued by the Department of Commerce, of which Noaa is a part, outlined plans to sever all remaining probationary employees and further reduce Noaa's workforce. Probationary employees, a categorization that applies to new hires or those moved or promoted into new positions, can now only be converted to permanent hires if they are approved by political appointees. 'The Trump administration is essentially turning a vast swath of federal positions at Noaa into political positions,' one Noaa staffer with knowledge of the policy said. Volz, who is among the highest-ranking civilians at the agency, has had to oversee many of the changes in policy, including those that affect scientific integrity, CNN reported. 'This is more bad news for Noaa,' said Andrew Rosenberg, a former deputy director of Noaa's National Marine Fisheries Service, of the dismissals, adding that both Volz and Dillen were 'solid no-nonsense career professionals'. 'In other words just the sort of people this administration targets as they tear apart a science agency,' he said. 'It will weaken Noaa even more and reinforce the Trump administration's effort to ignore science and stop serving the American public while handing greater authority to political hacks.' Spinrad echoed the concerns, pointing at the series of catastrophes that have already unfolded while Noaa was at reduced capacity – challenges to forecasting extreme weather, including the devastating floods in Texas that killed at least 135 people, hamstrung efforts to continue understanding and adapting to the climate crisis, and the slide toward commercialization and politicization of the work. 'All of these activities strike me as just an effort to determine what is the limit of pain that the American public is willing to tolerate,' commenting on the level of cuts.
E&E News
3 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
NOAA places 2 veteran officials on leave
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration placed two veteran officials on administrative leave Friday, NOAA's communications director confirmed to POLITICO. Jeff Dillen, who was serving as NOAA deputy general counsel, and Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, were both placed on leave for separate issues, according to Kim Doster, the agency's communications director. 'Mr. Dillen was placed on administrative leave by the department's senior career attorney pending a review of performance issues over the past several weeks,' Doster said in a statement, adding that Volz was placed on leave 'on an unrelated matter.' Advertisement CNN first reported the administration's move. Dillen and Volz did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It comes less than a week before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee takes up the confirmation of Neil Jacobs, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead NOAA as its administrator. Jacobs served as NOAA's acting administrator during Trump's first term, where he found himself embroiled in the 'Sharpiegate' scandal, in which he and another NOAA official, Julie Roberts, were accused of pressuring scientists to alter the forecast of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, which killed dozens of people. Jacobs and Roberts were attempting to align the forecast with statements made by Trump, who said in the Oval Office that the hurricane would hit Alabama. In 2020, Volz led the investigation into Jacobs and Roberts, and found that the two officials violated the agency's 'scientific integrity policy.' Rick Spinrad, the former NOAA administrator under the Biden administration, said he worked closely with Volz and Dillen, and neither had expressed any opinions about the 'Sharpiegate' incident: 'I mean, these are just rock solid people,' Spinrad said. With respect to Dillen, Spinrad said: 'I relied on him heavily for his legal expertise and his acumen regarding case law.' Spinrad said he 'would characterize Steve Holz as one of the most dedicated, smartest and most savvy people I worked with.' 'This is going to be a big loss for the agency for these two people to be sent packing,' Spinrad said.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Two top Noaa officials linked to Trump's ‘Sharpiegate' incident put on leave
Two high-ranking officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were placed on administrative leave on Friday, fueling speculation that the Trump administration was retaliating against them for actions taken during the president's first term. Jeff Dillen, who was serving as deputy general counsel, and Stephen Volz, who heads the agency's satellites division, led the investigation into whether agency administrators abdicated their scientific ethics when they altered the forecast of a deadly hurricane to match statements made by the president. First reported by CNN, the two were placed on leave just days before Neil Jacobs – the former Noaa chief at the center of the scandal – returns for a confirmation hearing as Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency once again. During the 2019 debacle known as 'Sharpiegate,' named for erroneous marks added by marker on a National Hurricane Center map to justify incorrect claims made by the president that Hurricane Dorian would reach Alabama – a path not in line with what forecasters initially reported – left a blemish on the science-focused agency's record. The investigation, it was announced in June 2020, found Jacobs and another official had violated the agency's 'scientific integrity policy', when they succumbed to political pressure. On Friday, the agency disputed the association between the officials being placed on leave and Jacobs' nomination. 'Mr Dillen was placed on administrative leave by the department's senior career attorney pending a review of performance issues over the past several weeks,' Noaa's communications director, Kim Doster, said in an email responding to a request for more information about the incident. She added that Volz was placed on leave 'on an unrelated matter'. Doster did not answer questions about the specifics that led to these dismissals or about whether workers at Noaa were briefed about the decisions. Noaa staffers, who asked for anonymity out of fear of reprisal for speaking out about the issue, told the Guardian they weren't told about what happened and had to learn about it on the news. They also questioned the agency's explanation. 'It is laughable that anyone could look at this and say that their situations are 'separate' when both were leads on the Sharpiegate investigation,' one staffer said. 'Both of them are brilliant, dedicated civil servants.' Former Noaa administrator Rick Spinrad, who worked closely with both Dillen and Volz, described their high integrity and dedication to the work that 'kept the agency in great shape'. 'It may just be part of the effort on the administration's part to rattle the cage,' he said, adding that before his departure from the agency there was widespread speculation about how the incoming Trump administration agenda might affect people in leadership positions. Volz, who heads a satellite division, may also have come up against the push for more private sector involvement. 'All that is speculative,' Spinrad said. 'But based on knowing these two individuals as well as I did, I was stunned that they were called out for performance-related issues – that makes no sense at all.' Noaa, long heralded as one of the most important climate research agencies, has become almost unrecognizable under the Trump administration, which hammered its anti-science agenda through a series of severe budget cuts, sharp reductions in staff, and moves to wipe data and resources on the climate crisis from public view. Trump's 'Restoring Gold Standard Science' executive order, a plan that guts scientific independence and grants political appointees greater power over what reaches the public, has further eroded the agency's mission, according to staffers familiar with the policy. Earlier this month, a policy issued by the Department of Commerce, of which Noaa is a part, outlined plans to sever all remaining probationary employees and further reduce Noaa's workforce. Probationary employees, a categorization that applies to new hires or those moved or promoted into new positions, can now only be converted to permanent hires if they are approved by political appointees. 'The Trump administration is essentially turning a vast swath of federal positions at Noaa into political positions,' one Noaa staffer with knowledge of the policy said. Volz, who is among the highest ranking civilians at the agency, has had to oversee many of the changes in policy, including those that impact scientific integrity, CNN reported. 'This is more bad news for Noaa,' said Andrew Rosenberg, a former deputy director of Noaa's National Marine Fisheries Service, of the dismissals, adding that both Volz and Dillen were 'solid no nonsense career professionals'. 'In other words just the sort of people this administration targets as they tear apart a science agency,' he said. 'It will weaken Noaa even more and reinforce the Trump Administration's effort to ignore science and stop serving the American public while handing greater authority to political hacks.' Spinrad echoed the concerns, pointing at the series of catastrophes that have already unfolded while Noaa was at reduced capacity – challenges to forecasting extreme weather, including the devastating floods in Texas that killed at least 135 people, hamstrung efforts to continue understanding and adapting to the climate crisis, and the slide toward commercialization and politicization of the work. 'All of these activities strike me as just an effort to determine what is the limit of pain that the American public is willing to tolerate,' commenting on the level of cuts.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
NOAA Puts 2 Officials Who Investigated Trump For Changing A Forecast Map On Leave
Two top officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who investigated President Donald Trump's disinformation about a 2019 hurricane have been placed on administrative leave. Stephen Volz is an assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. Jeff Dillen serves as NOAA deputy general counsel. Both were placed on leave Friday, CNN first reported. 'Mr. Dillen was placed on administrative leave by the department's senior career attorney pending a review of performance issues over the past several weeks,' NOAA communications director Kim Doster said in a statement to HuffPost. 'Separately, Dr. Volz was placed on administrative leave on an unrelated matter.' Both Dillen and Volz led an investigation into Trump using a Sharpie to draw on a map of a forecast for Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Trump did it to indicate the storm would go over Alabama. It didn't. Following Trump's false claim, the National Weather Service's Birmingham, Alabama, office tweeted out: 'Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east.' NOAA then released a statement defending Trump's false claim and criticizing the Birmingham office for speaking 'in absolute terms.' 'The information provided by NOAA and the National Hurricane Center to President Trump and the wider public demonstrated that tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama,' the statement said. 'The Birmingham National Weather Service's Sunday morning tweet spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time.' The storm never hit Alabama, and the investigation led by Dillen and Volz found that NOAA administrator Neil Jacobs and another official violated the agency's scientific integrity policy. Jacobs is now Trump's pick to head NOAA. If confirmed by the Senate, he has promised to make 'staffing the Weather Service offices a top priority' after the Trump administration slashed around 600 jobs at the critical agency this year. 'One office already does so much that having to help other offices is going to become so much more work,' a general forecaster at the NWS told HuffPost after cuts to the agency in March. 'I think everyone is worried about what this is leading to, and it's quite intimidating and scary.' Solve the daily Crossword
