The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Neil Jacobs as the new head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The confirmation puts a career atmospheric scientist with a deep understanding of NOAA's work at the helm of the agency, which is responsible for weather forecasts and climate records, a point of contention during Trump administration.
However, critics have highlighted Jacobs' role in the so-called Sharpiegate controversy 2019 as an example of his penchant for perceived political pressure.
Sharpigate is referring to an incident in which Trump incorrectly said Hurricane Dorian could hit Alabama. The National Weather Service office in Birmingham denied the state was in danger, but Trump redoubled his efforts and later showed reporters a map of the hurricane's potential path that had been altered with a black marker.
Top NOAA officials later rebuked local forecasters amid alleged political pressure. Jacobs was NOAA's assistant secretary for environmental observations at the time.
The National Academy of Government reviewed the events and determined that Jacobs violated NOAA ethics policies.
At his confirmation hearing in July, Jacobs said he would not have handled the situation the same way if it happened now.
Jacobs received bipartisan support in a committee vote last month in which five Democrats joined fellow Republicans to nominate him.
He was confirmed Tuesday as part of Trump's block of nominees, including more than a dozen ambassadors.
NOAA has already undergone incredible changes during Trump's second term. This lay off several hundred employees then later announced he would rehire hundreds of positions.
The Trump administration has also proposed deep cuts to the agency's budget. And it shut down reports on climate change that used to be an important part of NOAA's portfolio.
During his confirmation hearing, Jacobs said staffing should be a priority. He acknowledged that humans play a role in climate change, along with natural variability.
The hearing took place immediately after the Texas floods, so Jacobs said he would prioritize making sure people receive proper warnings during such weather events.
“Modernizing the way these watches and alerts are distributed will be my top priority,” he said.
Jacobs also supported establishment of a disaster review councilmodeled after the National Transportation Safety Board.
“We also need more data and post-storm assessments,” he said. “We need data to understand what went right, what went wrong, whether people received warnings.”
