Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) announced that three federal offices in Oklahoma, including the National Weather Center, will not be terminated after conversations with President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, Cole said that after speaking with the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, the National Weather Center in Norman, the Social Security Administration office in Lawton and the Indian Health Service office in Oklahoma City will remain operational in Oklahoma.
“All three of these places provide vital and valuable services to Oklahomans and I am so proud to have advocated for them,” Cole said in the release. “As the Representative for Oklahoma’s Fourth District, I will always fight for Oklahomans and my constituents!”
According to DOGE’s list of terminated property leases, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s office in Norman, Social Security Administration’s office in Lawton and Indian Health Service’s office in Oklahoma City are still listed as having canceled leases.
On Feb. 27, an unspecified number of employees and OU meteorology students with roles at the National Weather Center were laid off. An anonymous source who works for NOAA’s Norman location told OU Daily they estimated roughly 15 to 20 employees were laid off in Norman.
The layoffs follow the Trump administration’s mass cuts of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s top climate science and weather forecasting agencies. According to the New York Times, the cuts are expected to cost more than 800 people their jobs, out of a total of about 13,000 staff members.
Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
