Senator Ted Cruz is coming to the defense of the National Weather Service in the aftermath of catastrophic flooding in Central Texas.
Some have questioned if recent DOGE cuts made it more difficult for forecasters to do their jobs, with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer demanding an investigation into whether vacancies at National Weather Service offices increased the death toll.
Cruz says no and that warnings were issued hours ahead of time.
"These warnings went out hours before the flood became a true emergency," Cruz said.
The head of the union representing National Weather Service forecasters had said the offices that warn for that area of the state had adequate staffing and issued warnings in a timely manner. Still, the New York Times reported that "key forecasting and coordination positions at the San Antonio and San Angelo offices of the NWS were vacant at the time of the Friday storm."
And Cruz himself indicated a look back at the logistics of what happened and when warnings were issued about it is appropriate.
"I think it is reasonable over time to engage in a retrospective and say at every level what could have been done better," Cruz said. "All of us would want to prevent this horrific loss of life."
For his part, Schumer wrote, “This is a national tragedy which people across the country are mourning. The American people deserve answers.”
The Hill noted that Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas)has also called for an investigation into what impact weather service staffing cuts may have had.
“When you have flash flooding, there’s a risk that you won’t have the personnel to make that — do that analysis, do the predictions in the best way,” he said on CNN.