Barry Myers Withdraws As Trump’s NOAA Nominee
The president’s pick to head the agency cited health reasons but had faced a mountain of criticism.
President Donald Trump’s embattled nominee to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has withdrawn, according to a Washington Times story Wednesday.
Barry Myers released a statement to the media outlet that cited health reasons but noted that his family has been “unmercifully attacked by false news stories.”
The former AccuWeather CEO, who has no formal scientific training, was battling reports that raised questions about conflicts of interest and lack of qualifications.
He spent years lobbying Congress to limit the free public dissemination of weather information, as a USA Today story highlighted in April. The National Weather Service falls under NOAA.
Myers’ nomination had stalled amid stories about how the work environment at AccuWeather was full of sexual harassment, which a federal labor investigation uncovered. AccuWeather denied the allegations.
Read the full story in the Washington Times here.
