The Trump administration will spend nearly $100 million less on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) than the $745 million approved by Congress for FY2025. The spending cuts primarily affect weather, ocean, and climate research, and represent a “down payment” on the administration’s plan to eliminate OAR entirely in FY2026, according to agency officials.
The reduction in spending was detailed in a plan approved by the Office of Management and Budget, which indicates that funding for OAR climate research will be cut by $23 million (representing a 25% reduction); climate science research grants by over $20 million; and climate-focused labs and cooperative institutes by $18 million. Other NOAA offices have also received less than the amounts appropriated by Congress for 2025, including $90 million less for the National Ocean Service, $76 million less for NOAA’s satellite division, and a $63 million decrease in funding for the agency’s mission support offices.
Current and former NOAA employees expressed concern about the cuts. Rick Spinrad, who led NOAA under former President Joe Biden, said that the spending plan underscores the administration’s efforts to maximize NOAA’s losses, saying “[i]t looks like they’re trying to do as much damage they can.” According to another former NOAA official, “[t]his shows not to underestimate the malice that this administration has toward NOAA.”