FORECAST Act
- Bill Number
- S. 1958
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-06-04: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Last Updated
- 2025-07-01T11:06:18Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The FORECAST Act (Federal Operational Resilience in Emergency Conditions And Storm Tracking Act) aims to protect public safety by ensuring the National Weather Service (NWS) can maintain essential staffing, even during federal government hiring freezes imposed by executive orders. It prioritizes roles critical for weather forecasting, flood warnings, and hazard protection.
Key Provisions
- Exemption from Hiring Freezes: The Secretary of Commerce must exempt specific NWS positions from any future federal hiring freezes. These "covered positions" include job series 1340 (meteorology, focused on weather prediction), 1315 (hydrology, focused on water-related risks like floods), and 856 (electronics technician, for maintaining weather equipment), or any updated equivalents.
- Implementation Timeline: The exemption must be put in place within 30 days of the bill's enactment.
- Reporting Requirements: The Secretary must submit an annual report to Congress starting one year after enactment, detailing staffing levels for these covered positions.
- Retroactive Effect: The law invalidates any rescinded job offers for covered positions made on or after January 20, 2025, allowing those hires to proceed.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- This bill introduces a targeted carve-out from broad federal hiring restrictions, which are typically set by presidential executive orders or memoranda. Previously, such freezes could apply uniformly across government agencies without specific exemptions for safety-critical roles like those in the NWS.
- It adds mandatory reporting on NWS staffing, creating new oversight for Congress on weather service operations.
Potential Impacts
- On Government Agencies: The Department of Commerce (which oversees the NWS) gains flexibility to hire and retain specialists, potentially improving operational resilience during emergencies. It could reduce disruptions in weather monitoring and response.
- On Citizens: Enhances public safety by ensuring reliable weather warnings and equipment maintenance, which could save lives and property during storms, floods, or other hazards. Rural or disaster-prone areas may benefit most.
- On International Relations: Minimal direct impact, though reliable U.S. weather data supports global forecasting efforts and cooperation on climate issues.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- National Weather Service Employees and Applicants: Direct beneficiaries through protected hiring and reinstatement of rescinded offers.
- Department of Commerce and Secretary: Responsible for implementation, reporting, and compliance.
- Congress: Gains oversight via annual reports to monitor staffing.
- General Public: Indirectly affected as end-users of weather services for safety and preparedness.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Reinforces executive branch accountability by limiting the scope of presidential hiring freezes, potentially challenging broad executive authority under Article II of the Constitution (which grants hiring powers but allows congressional overrides via legislation).
- Constitutional: Aligns with Congress's power to regulate federal agencies and appropriations, ensuring essential services aren't unduly impaired.
- Political: Introduced amid concerns over potential executive actions (e.g., post-inauguration freezes), it could spark debates on balancing fiscal restraint with public safety priorities; may encourage similar exemptions for other critical agencies like emergency response or health services.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (1)
Recent Actions
- 2025-06-04: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- 2025-06-04: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Federal Operational Resilience in Emergency Conditions And Storm Tracking Act — issued 2025-06-04 — PDF (3 pages)