Democratic senator invokes Hurricane Milton to slam Project 2025

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey (Mass.) invoked Hurricane Milton to slam the conservative agenda Project 2025, which calls for the “break up” of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA).

In a post on X, Markey reposted a map from the National Weather Service showing more than 50 tornado warnings issued in southern Florida ahead of the storm.

“Project 2025 would gut the National Weather Service—they want to put your safety behind a paywall,” Markey said.

NOAA houses the National Weather Service. The Project 2025 plan, which sets out an agenda for a conservative president, says that the weather service should “fully commercialize its forecasting operations” and focus on providing data to private companies. 

It also calls for a “review” of the work of the National Hurricane Center. It acknowledges that the center provides important public safety information, but also says its data should be presented “neutrally” rather than in a way that makes points about climate change.

Climate change has been linked to greater hurricane intensity and rainfall.

Nearly 100 tornado warnings were issued Wednesday ahead of Milton’s landfall. Four people died in St. Lucie County and more than 100 homes were destroyed due to the tornadoes.

More recovery and damage assessment efforts are underway Thursday morning.

Project 2025 has been a major issue in the presidential race, with Vice President Harris seeking to attack former President Trump over the plan.

Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025, saying he has nothing to do with it. On other occassions he and his team have villified parts of the conservative agenda.

But there are also connections between people in Trump's orbit and the conservative blueprint.

For example, as The Hill has previously reported, the lead author of the Project 2025 section dealing with the Commerce Department, which houses NOAA and the National Weather Service, is Thomas Gilman, who was a Trump administration official.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Flood Insurance Program are housed under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS section’s lead author in the Project 2025 report was Trump administration official Ken Cuccinelli.