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Trump Budget Proposal Slashes NOAA Climate Research and Staff

The proposal now heads to Congress after detailing a zeroed research arm, lab closures, a 17 percent staff reduction

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

Overview

  • The internal FY 2026 budget document outlines a 30 percent expense cut, trimming roughly $2 billion from NOAA’s funding
  • It directs elimination of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, effectively dismantling the agency’s primary climate science division
  • Funding for climate, weather and ocean laboratories and cooperative institutes would be zeroed out, triggering closure of key sites including the Mauna Loa Observatory program and Miami’s hurricane research facility
  • The plan calls for reducing full-time staff by about 2,061 positions, a 17 percent cut, even as NOAA pledges to sustain select high-priority National Weather Service and National Ocean Services programs
  • Scientists and industry groups warn the cuts threaten forecasting precision, disaster preparedness and the United States’ role in global climate monitoring as Congress considers the proposal