Trump wants to slash funding for federal climate and weather research. Congress is about to tell him ‘No’

By Andrew Freedman, CNN

(CNN) — Congress is poised to reject President Donald Trump’s “astounding” proposed cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as NASA’s Earth science programs.

Trump sought to slash spending in scientific research at NOAA and NASA, among other agencies. The administration’s budget request would have eliminated all of NOAA’s research laboratories, including those like the National Severe Storms Laboratory that work to make weather forecasts more accurate. The budget request also sought to cancel weather and climate satellite programs and instruments at NOAA and NASA, including multiple missions that had already been launched.

Instead, the House has passed a funding bill for the Commerce, Justice and State Departments that funds science at NOAA and NASA. The Senate is expected to do the same this week.

Neither NOAA nor NASA would see an overall increase in funding under the congressional budget, but they would be spared from dramatic cuts that scientists and activists have warned would have a devastating effect on climate science, meteorology and other fields of study in the US and around the world.

At NOAA, the bipartisan spending bill would fund the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, which the administration proposed eliminating entirely due to its climate change portfolio. This branch of NOAA conducts climate change research, including monitoring greenhouse gas levels around the world. It also operates a network of laboratories across the US that pursue cutting edge weather and climate research programs.

The Trump administration’s budget request called for a nearly 50% cut in spending for NASA’s science mission, including canceling several planned as well as existing Earth-observing satellites, like the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 to track carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The bill, and an accompanying committee report, explicitly calls for maintaining the agency’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which is NASA’s top climate monitoring and computer modeling lab, which the administration sought to eliminate and disperse its functions elsewhere within the agency. Congress also would instruct the agency to seek a new home for the top lab after the administration canceled its lease in New York City last year and forced staff to work virtually, while maneuvering to shut it down entirely.

The bill’s bottom line would cut about 1% of NASA’s science program budget compared to what was enacted in 2025 and provide roughly the same amount of funding to NOAA as it did in 2025, at $6.17 billion.

It is not unusual for Congress to push back against items in the president’s annual budget request, but the bipartisan support for NOAA and NASA’s weather and climate research is noteworthy since these cuts were such a major part of the request itself. For example, Congress is on track to approve $634 million for NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research — compared to the budget proposal, which had zeroed out that office.

The bill would provide a slight increase in funding for the National Weather Service and require the administration to provide the Senate Appropriations Committee with a NOAA staffing plan to ensure the agency can carry out its core missions.

This stems from concerns over widespread vacancies at the NWS and other parts of the oceans and atmosphere agency following layoffs and other staff departures in the past year. For example, cuts to the NWS may have impeded accurate forecasting of a devastating storm that struck Alaska in October.

The message Congress is sending, according to Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, is “Don’t cut these forecasters. Don’t cut these key tools that are part of an emergency response system.”

“It’s pretty astounding what they were proposing,” she said of the administration’s budget request.

The Trump White House has consistently targeted climate change research for cuts, while swiftly rolling back regulations and ending the country’s participation in international climate agreements.

Last week, the administration announced it is becoming the first country in the world to exit the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is the oldest climate agreement that provides the foundation for the annual UN climate talks.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

Rick Spinrad, who headed NOAA during the Biden administration, said beating back the cuts is important, but insufficient compared to the need to increase the weather and climate products that NOAA provides.

“I’m glad Congress is providing a voice of reason, but real improvement in services… will require more than just a stabilization to levels of past investments,” he said.

However, it remains to be seen how the White House Office of Management and Budget will implement the congressional appropriations bills, assuming that they are passed and signed by the president.

This administration has long flouted Congress’ budget. For example, OMB has held money back from federal science agencies that Congress had previously appropriated. And some agencies, including parts of NOAA and NASA, were told to begin implementing the President’s budget request, rather than waiting for Congress to act.

Language in the House and Senate appropriations bills would give the White House less maneuvering room to get creative with its spending and agency guidance absent congressional approval.

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