Barry Myers, who runs the pioneering weather firm AccuWeather, was chosen as undersecretary of Commerce and head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The weather service is part of NOAA.
Last year, Myers told the House Science Committee he had problems with the way NOAA keeps some data private and how it works with competing weather firms.
The union that represents weather service employees has criticised a possible Myers nomination as a conflict of interest.