Barry Myers, White House Pick to Head NOAA, Withdraws Nomination Over Health Concerns

Barry Myers, the former head of the private weather company AccuWeather, has withdrawn his nomination as the White House top pick to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) due to health reasons. Myers was a contentious choice—due both to his affiliation with his family-owned private weather-forecasting company, which sought to compete with the National Weather Service, and a string of sexual-harassment lawsuits at AccuWeather under his leadership. Myers’ decision to withdraw, first reported by the Washington Times, follows surgery and chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Myers was nominated by President Trump in November 2017, but the pick never made it to a floor vote in the U.S. Senate.