The outgoing Trump administration removed Michael Kuperberg as the head of the program that produces the National Climate Assessment, multiple outlets report. Kuperberg directed the production of the NCA in 2018 and was expected to continue on through the production of the fifth edition. His removal follows the hiring of multiple climate deniers across the administration earlier this year in an apparent effort to undercut the NCA — released every four years —  in order to ultimately weaken the endangerment finding. Despite efforts by the Trump administration to downplay the report, including releasing it on the day after Thanksgiving in 2018, the latest version was widely praised as accurately portraying the threat posed by climate change. (Washington Post $, New York Times $, The Hill, Politico)