ISTANBUL

Some 800 employees of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration – the US government agency responsible for accurate weather forecasts and storm warnings – have been fired as part of Trump administration downsizing efforts that critics have characterized as dangerous and reckless.

Most divisions of the agency, which employs scientists and specialists in weather forecasts, oceans, biodiversity, climate, and other research and planetary monitoring fields, were affected by the Thursday firings, according to CNN.

Employees who have been in their jobs for a year or less were the largest target of the terminations, as hundreds of probationary employees were sacked.

A form letter told the sacked NOAA workers: “The Agency finds you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and/or skills do not fit the Agency’s current needs.”

Employees of the National Weather Service, part of the agency, are protected by a workers’ union, which was trying Thursday night to contact affected employees.

Some employees who were fired said on social media that they might challenge their termination in court.

More layoffs are possible on Friday, CNN said, potentially costing the weather, climate, and environmental agency more than a thousand employees by the end of the week.

In addition to firing workers, sources close to US President Donald Trump have spoken of breaking apart the agency or even privatizing some of its functions.

The information NOAA provides is currently available for free, as a resource for the public and an important safety feature, especially as extreme weather events have grown more common and more damaging.

The agency, which includes hundreds of scientists, has reportedly also been targeted by Trump as a source of information on climate change, which the president has dismissed as a “Chinese hoax.”

Trump administration's mass layoffs of government workers

The US Office of Personnel Management ordered the dismissal of probationary federal government employees on Feb. 14, followed by the dismissal of those who had been working in these institutions for less than a year.

Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump has dismissed many people working in various federal agencies, perhaps especially the Justice Department, which he accuses of unfairly targeting him during the previous Joe Biden administration.

A federal judge ruled this week that the mass dismissal of probationary federal government employees could be illegal.