The claim: Project 2025 includes plan to close the National Hurricane Center
A Sept. 25 Facebook post ( direct link , archive link ) by the liberal Facebook page The Other 98% warns of what it claims would happen if the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is implemented.
“As Hurricane Helene is upgraded to a Category 4, it might be a good time to remind you Project 2025 intends to close the National Hurricane Center,” reads the post.
It was shared more than 25,000 times in two days. Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter .
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Our rating: False
The Project 2025 political playbook doesn’t include plans to close the National Hurricane Center, though it does say its work should be reviewed. Project 2025 does recommend modifying and downsizing the agency that the center falls under.
Playbook says center serves 'important public safety' role
The claim came a day before Hurricane H elene made landfall near Perry, Florida, as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26. More than 30 Helene-related deaths had been reported as of Sept. 27, USA TODAY reported .
The National Hurricane Center has issued numerous advisories and forecasts as the storm has moved across the south .
But contrary to the claim in the post, Project 2025 "does not call for the elimination of" the National Hurricane Center, Heritage Foundation spokesperson Ellen Keenan told USA TODAY. The text backs up her description.
The playbook calls for a review of the center's work, but it also notes the key public safety role the agency serves. Here's the section in full:
Review the Work of the National Hurricane Center and the National Environmental Satellite Service.
The National Hurricane Center and National Environmental Satellite Service data centers provide important public safety and Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise business functions as well as academic functions, and are used by forecasting agencies and scientists internationally. Data continuity is an important issue in climate science. Data collected by the department should be presented neutrally, without adjustments intended to support any one side in the climate debate.
The center is part of the National Weather Service , which falls under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Project 2025 accuses NOAA of "climate alarmism" and calls for it to be "broken up and downsized.”
"That is not to say NOAA is useless, but its current organization corrupts its useful functions," the playbook says of the agency.
Fact check : Claim of 'period passports' under Project 2025 is from satire
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims about Project 2025, including false assertions that it proposes a military draft for all public school seniors, that it says the “only valid family” is composed of a working father and stay-at-home mother and that it is a plan from former President Donald Trump .
USA TODAY reached out to the Heritage Foundation and users who shared the post for comment. A spokesperson for The Other 98% referred USA TODAY to articles that focused on the implications of changes to NOAA.
Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Project 2025 doesn't call for the National Hurricane Center to close | Fact check
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