On Friday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has repealed an obscure requirement called the Richardson Waiver, which requires a period of notice and an opportunity for public comment on a range of decisions related to agency management, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Medicaid, personnel, public property, loans, grants, benefits, and contracts, CNN reported. Overall, the Richardson Waiver states HHS should only make decisions without public notice sparingly. 

Since 1971, the Richardson Waiver has been enforced and imposes notice-and-comment periods above and beyond those required from the Administrative Procedures Act. But on Friday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) posted a notice to the Federal Register, which said the requirement of the waiver imposes extra costs and slows the department down. 

RFK’s notice alarmed open government advocates, who fear the department will make decisions in secrecy. The waiver was also cited earlier this month by state attorneys general as one argument in their legal challenge seeking to block the NIH’s cuts to research funding, CBS News reported. They quoted the first Trump administration supporting the waiver in a 2020 post by the department to the Federal Register. 

Hundreds of staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were fired on Feb. 27. Newsweek estimated cuts hit upward of 500 employees and possibly around 800, CNN reported. Most divisions of the agency—which employs scientists and specialists in weather, oceans, biodiversity, climate, and other research and planetary monitoring—were involved. 

Many of those let go were federal employees on probationary status, however, some of the people who lost jobs had decades of experience in their fields of research. 

The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1, and NOAA operates the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center, and several other programs that play vital roles in monitoring hurricanes, tornadoes, and storms and ensuring public safety. The National Hurricane Center’s storm track forecasts during the 2024 season also set new records for accuracy at every timeframe from 12 hours to five days into the future, according to a preliminary report. 

In addition to the termination, some National Weather Service’s most experienced forecasters took buyout offers, including about a dozen out of the 40 chief meteorologists at the Central U.S. offices, a region known for many tornado-prone states. The National Weather Service consists of 122 local offices, specializing in the weather and climate of the area. Many of these offices also experienced staffing shortages before the cuts, CNN reported.