Commerce Department

subagencies: Census, NIST, NOAA

DOGE made an early foray into the agency with a visit to the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), but their presence at Commerce has seemed relatively muted in comparison to other agencies. However, DOGE has had a staunch ally in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and reseachers are getting increasingly alarmed about DOGE interfering with the operations of the Census.

The Commerce Department contains the following important subagencies that have been affected by DOGE:

The Census Department conducts the national census every 10 years (important for redistricting) as well as other important surveys of the American public.
National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) sets standards for technical products in industry (and references for units of measure). It also defines the cybersecurity requirements for software used in the federal government.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is most prominently known for its role in weather forecasting and climate modeling. It also charts the oceans and manages fisheries around the US.

Positions

Position	Date	Person
OPM? NOAA 2/04	2/04	Nikhil Rajpal likely detailed Axios
Commerce 2/27	2/27	Michael Grimes appointed Senior Advisor ProPublica
NOAA 4/02	4/02	Bryton Shang appointed Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator
GSA Commerce c.4/09	c.4/09	Nate Cavanaugh likely detailed «Senate Democrats note that Cavanaugh has a commerce email address. Guessing date is around detail to MBDA.» official letter

Systems

System	Dates	Access
Google	2/05-	Google Drive 2/05- Nikhil Rajpal ( read-write access)

Events

Agency	Date	Event
2/04 NOAA	2/04	Sighting: DOGE staffer Nikhil Rajpal reportedly enters NOAA facilities in Silver Spring, Maryland. Axios
2/05 Commerce	2/05	Sighting: DOGE staff are seen entering the headquarters of the Department of Commerce. GovExec
2/14 NIST	2/14	Sighting: NIST workers witness a handful of people that they suspect of being DOGE touring the NIST IT facilities in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Wired
March 2025
3/28 Commerce	3/28	Sighting: Michael Grimes conducts DOGE-style interviews with each member of the staff in the Chips Program Office. This group administers grants following the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (signed by Biden) to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in the US. FT
April 2025
4/02 NIST	4/02	Oversight: A group of 22 house members send a letter to Commerce Secretary Lutnick expressing concern about the firing of 70 staffers at NIST.
4/11 HHS, USDA, Commerce, Defense, ED, Energy, HUD, DOJ, DOL, State, DOT, VA, EPA, NASA, Archives, NEH, NSF, SBA	4/11	Disruption: Luke Farritor uses his admin access to lock out all government officials at multiple agencies from using grants.gov to issue new grants. Instead, all grants must now be sent to a new email address which will be reviewed by DOGE staffers before grants can be posted. Wash. Post
May 2025
5/XX Census	5/XX	Disruption: An internal survey reveals that over a fifth of Census Bureau leadership roles are vacant in the wake of DOGE’s efforts to reduce federal staffing. NPR
5/16 NOAA	5/16	Disruption: Because of DOGE-directed cuts, a National Weather Service office in Jackson, KY did not have an overnight forecaster who is able to track and forecast tornado watches for a storm sweeping across the state. NYT
5/20 DOGE, Census	5/20	Disruption: In a post on its X account, DOGE reports that it is working to review surveys conducted by the Census Bureau and claims to have already eliminated 5 surveys that include questions about alcohol consumption and internet usage. Bluesky
June 2025
6/04 Census	6/04	Disruption: Field representatives for the Census surveys share that the public is growing increasingly distrustful of participating in government surveys due to concerns that their data might be used against them by DOGE. This is especially true for minority and vulnerable populations, increasing the real risk of skewed statistics. NPR
6/26 NOAA, Defense	6/26	Disruption: The Department of Defense announced that it would immediately stop ingesting and sharing data from 3 microwave-imaging satellites with NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. This imaging is used to prevent “sunrise surprises” by allowing forecasters to monitor hurricanes at night. The change is expected to degrade the quality of hurricane forecasts. Michael Lowry
6/26 HHS, USDA, Commerce, Defense, ED, Energy, HUD, DOJ, DOL, State, DOT, VA, EPA, NASA, Archives, NEH, NSF, SBA	6/26	Official: In an email to agency partners, the operators of grants.gov declare that the revised mechanism added in April that routed all Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) through a DOGE email address has been reversed. Instead, agencies are to return to using the tool like that did previously. This doesn’t necessarily mean that DOGE or political appointees will not be reviewing grants, but they have no longer locked other users out of the system. Wash. Post

Questions

Who else from DOGE was detailed to the Department of Commerce?
There were reports in early February of DOGE visiting multiple Commerce Department agencies, but Nikhil Rajpal was the only person identified at that time. Who else was involved?