/sci/ - Science & Math

https://spacenews.com/house-republicans-introduce-bill-to-create-an-independent-noaa/

> The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Act of 2023, introduced by Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and 13 other Republican members, would formally establish NOAA into law and create it as an independent agency, rather than as part of the Commerce Department as it is today.

> Lucas and other supporters of the bill have argued that turning NOAA into an independent agency, like NASA, would reduce bureaucracy. An at April hearing about the proposed legislation, three former heads of NOAA argued that having to coordinate activities with Commerce Department officials that often had little understanding of NOAA slowed down their work.

>Activities ranging from budget planning to “all-hands” emails “had to go through several different layers in the Department of Commerce, and it’s usually being reviewed by people that don’t really understand NOAA’s mission and don’t really have the scientific expertise,” said Neil Jacobs, who served as acting administrator of NOAA during part of the Trump administration. “To me it felt very unnecessary.”