Durham’s Neil Jacobs, linked to ‘Sharpie-gate,’ confirmed by Senate to lead NOAA
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Senate confirms Neil Jacobs Jr. as NOAA head after prior nomination stalled.
- Jacobs pledges improved forecasting and flood alert systems at NOAA.
- Sharpie-gate controversy resurfaces; Jacobs vows adherence to science policy.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly described the status of Neil Jacobs’ confirmation to lead NOAA. Due to a procedural change in the Senate, one more vote is needed before confirmation.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Durham resident Neil Jacobs Jr. to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a 51-47 vote Tuesday evening.
Some media outlets, including McClatchy, reported Jacobs was confirmed Friday, but due to the Senate’s new process of confirming nominees en bloc, there was an extra step before confirmation that wasn’t immediately clear.
The en bloc vote means 107 of the nominees by President Donald Trump were taken up by the Senate simultaneously. North Carolina’s Arthur Fisher was also confirmed ambassador to Austria.
This is the second time Trump nominated 51-year-old Jacobs to lead NOAA, but in Trump’s first term, Jacobs’ nomination never made it to a floor vote for Senate approval. During a July confirmation hearing, Jacobs said staffing needed to be a top priority and that the National Weather Service, a part of NOAA, needed people on the ground.
Jacobs told senators in July he wanted to see enhanced weather forecasting, advancement and modernization of weather radios and to work with lawmakers to find better ways to alert people about impending floods.
He holds degrees in mathematics and physics from the University of South Carolina and a doctorate in atmospheric science from NC State. He previously served as assistant secretary for Environmental Observation and Prediction and as acting secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere.
Jacobs’ confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation came just days after 27 children and counselors were killed in a flash flood at Camp Mystic in the hill country of Texas. That week, flash floods led to the deaths of more than 130 people in Texas, plus more in North Carolina and New Mexico. That led to a hearing that was standing-room only and garnered national attention.
Several Democrats shared their concerns with Jacobs that Trump had threatened budget cuts to NOAA, but he testified he believed NOAA could handle the cuts if other departments picked up pieces of the agency’s mission that were shuttered.
He also fielded questions about his connection to “Sharpie-gate,” when Trump, in 2019, drew on a forecast model for Hurricane Dorian and said the storm was expected to hit Alabama hard, despite forecasts that said otherwise.
The National Weather Service in Alabama quickly debunked Trump’s statement and tried to quell the fears of local residents, saying that science did not support Trump’s assessment. But after finding that Jacobs helped draft a statement on behalf of NOAA supporting Trump’s map, he was found by a panel, commissioned by the agency to investigate, to be in violation of NOAA’s scientific integrity policy, The New York Times reported.
The storm missed Alabama.
At the time, Jacobs said he felt his job was on the line if he didn’t put out that statement, CBS News reported then, but he assured senators in the confirmation hearing he would not make the same decision again.
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 2:29 PM.