A key House Republican is putting forward a plan to make NOAA an independent agency outside the Department of Commerce, Andrew and Axios Pro’s Jael Holzman write.

Why it matters: Removing the atmosphere and oceans agency from a Cabinet-level department could diminish its clout when it comes to securing funding and weighing in on policy decisions, former senior NOAA officials tell Axios.

State of play: A bill being circulated within the House Science Committee by chairman Frank Lucas (Okla.) would authorize NOAA and its mission in law for the first time. Lucas plans to formally introduce it this spring.

  • Committee Democrats, led by ranking member Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), are open to supporting the measure but want more details before deciding whether to back it, according to a Democratic committee aide.
  • NOAA, which was created by an executive order in 1970, has always been an awkward fit in the Commerce Department. It was placed there because of a dispute then-president Richard Nixon had with his Interior secretary.

Between the lines: A GOP Science Committee aide told Axios that Lucas’ effort is about ensuring that NOAA’s existence and mission is enshrined into law and reorganizing its structure to make its research operations more efficient.

  • “Do we need all the existing line offices here? Do we need to consolidate? Do we need to combine?” the aide said. “We’re not really looking to have some massive reorientation of the agency, but partly it is somewhat of an organizational issue.”
  • The bill would enter at least one polarizing area: It would require a study on moving NOAA’s endangered species and marine protection responsibilities to the Interior Department, which helps regulate energy development.
  • That is likely to encounter opposition on the Senate side, where Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, plans to introduce her own bill to enshrine NOAA into law, according to Democratic committee staff members.
  • The Senate bill is unlikely to push for NOAA’s independence.

What they’re saying: Two past agency leaders told Axios that making NOAA independent would likely help the agency, since the Commerce Department controls many of its policy, staffing and messaging decisions.

  • “The principle of moving NOAA to be an independent agency, I support 1,000%,” said Tim Gallaudet, one of NOAA’s Trump-era administrators. “I cannot tell you the number of times where progress was impeded by having to go through the bureaucratic layer of the Department of Commerce.“

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