As thousands of staffing cuts have hit various federal agencies in the name of shrinking the government, some Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers.

Several senators, led by Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, have called on the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to learn more about how cuts to the agency would impact the Great Lakes.

In a March 10 letter sent to acting administrator Vice Admiral Nancy Hann, Klobuchar asked how many employees had been fired during her tenure, how many were fired at each NOAA program associated with the Great Lakes, what services will be ended due to these cuts, and if she has any plans to preserve said services.

“National and regional NOAA programs help protect these lakes and support our constituents who call the Great Lakes home.” the letter said, which went on to detail several of these programs, such as the National Weather Service (NWS), which is responsible for weather data and warnings, and the Marine Debris Program, which combats litter in the Great Lakes.

“I just wish that some of these people that were making these decisions, instead of looking at how can we make things more streamlined and effective, that they would come up to Duluth in the middle of a blizzard and see what it’s like if you don’t have any NOAA reports and you’ve got to drive to work.” Klobuchar said in an interview with WDIO.

“The Duluth economy and the Northland economy; so much of it is based on the port and it is the boating economy, yes, but also the shipping economy. They rely on these NOAA reports.” She added.

The letter, which was signed by a handful of other Democratic senators, including Minnesota’s Tina Smith, and Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, set a March 28 deadline for Vice Admiral Hann to respond.

The full text of the letter can be found on Senator Klobuchar’s website.