Overview

• The FY2026 blueprint calls for a roughly $2 billion reduction in NOAA’s budget, cutting 17 to 18 percent of its 12,000-member workforce and abolishing the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.
• Federal funding would be withdrawn from all climate, weather and ocean laboratories, including key facilities in Mauna Loa, Hawaii; Miami, Florida; and Boulder, Colorado.
• Core programs such as the National Sea Grant College Program and its aquaculture research would lose federal support under the proposal.
• NOAA would narrow its mission to operational forecasting and deepen partnerships with private–sector weather providers in line with Project 2025 priorities.
• Bipartisan lawmakers and scientific organizations have warned the cuts could undermine hurricane forecasting, long-term climate monitoring and disaster preparedness if Congress approves the plan.