Project1461
September 2, 2025 - Day #226
Hurricane Donald
On January 20, 2025, during his first day on the job of his second term as President, Trump signed numerous executive orders, one of which was entitled:
REFORMING THE FEDERAL HIRING PROCESS AND RESTORING MERIT TO GOVERNMENT SERVICE
The order detailed a revamped approach for the hiring of the Federal workforce. One significant change was written as follows:
(b) This Federal Hiring Plan shall:
(i) prioritize recruitment of individuals committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution;
(ii) prevent the hiring of individuals based on their race, sex, or religion, and prevent the hiring of individuals who are unwilling to defend the Constitution or to faithfully serve the Executive Branch….
“…or to faithfully serve the Executive Branch….” In plainer language, Trump is requiring allegiance to himself and his MAGA worldview by those who seek employment within the US government.
Under the new hiring guidelines outlined in Trump’s executive order, four essay questions are presented for each prospective employee to answer, two of which are:
“How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience.”
“How would you help advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”
Applicants will have to certify that candidates are using their own words, and did not use artificial intelligence tools or large language models like ChatGPT to write these essays.
Last Friday, the Associated Press ran a story about new job postings for work at the National Weather Service, as that agency tries to backfill forecasting positions which were slashed willy-nilly by Elon Musk’s DOGE last February. The AP article, headlined, Want to work for National Weather Service? Be ready to explain how you agree with Trump, added some background.
As the National Weather Service scrambles to hire up to 450 people to restore deep cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, potential applicants are being asked to explain how they would advance President Donald Trump’s agenda if hired.
A posting from the weather service’s parent agency seeking meteorologists asks applicants to identify one or two of Trump’s executive orders “that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”
It’s among screening questions added to government job applications as part of a “ merit hiring plan” that Trump announced at the outset of his second term, and it’s not unique to the weather service positions. But some experts said they are alarmed at the prospect that a candidate’s ideology could matter for jobs in science.
“These people should be hired for their knowledge in meteorology or hydrology or information technology or physics — not civics. ... Bottom line, I’d rather have a great forecaster who’s never read an EO than a policy muck who’s taken one meteorology class,” said Rick Spinrad, who led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the weather service, under former President Joe Biden.
It is well documented that Trump believes human caused planet warming is a hoax, a lie which he saw being bolstered by the Green energy initiatives of the Biden administration. The science showing human caused warming is overwhelmingly supported by widespread consensus of climate experts across the globe, and yet Trump and MAGA deny that reality. Under Trump, numerous Biden climate mitigating policies and initiatives have been canceled, along with NOAA no longer tracks the cost of weather disasters worsened by climate change. His administration has also moved to shut down two NASA missions that monitor a potent greenhouse gas and plant health — data seen as helpful for measuring the impacts of climate change.
More from that AP report:
Trump’s second term has been marked by accusations that he has politicized science, most recently with the ouster of the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for not being “aligned” with the president’s agenda. Separately, employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health and Federal Emergency Management Agency have issued declarations of dissent with agency actions. Some EPA and FEMA employees who signed those letters were put on leave.
Trump’s federal hiring executive order, as it now relates to hiring/rehiring weather forecasters, is a glaring example of him politicizing science, not unlike during his first term when he contradicted weather experts by including parts of Alabama in the path of Hurricane Dorian, which it was not. The incident, (which became known as Sharpie-gate because Trump altered an official NOAA hurricane map using a sharpie to include some of Alabama) exampled how it was more important to Trump for him to be perceived as correct rather than scientifically accurate.
So Trump would be good with climate-warming deniers to serve as weather forecasters, people who only care about supporting his backward worldview rather than lending weather forecasting expertise.
It’s hard not to hope that those are the people who will be serving south Florida when the next Category 5 hurricane, Donald, sets its sights straight for Mar a Largo.