Trump wants to stop climate research from key agencies: Report

The Trump administration pursues a deeply skeptical approach to climate change and wants to significantly cut back on research units in government agencies that play a pivotal role in global climate science.

According to internal White House documents consulted by CNN, the administration will ask Congress, which sets federal agencies’ budgets, and the lab and offices that oversee the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) climate research.

“NOAA’s Trump budget plan is outrageous and dangerous,” said Zoe Lofgren, a ranking Democrat for the House Science Committee, in a statement, the administration warned that it was “completely destroying” essential services.

Approximately 75% of NOAA’s research division’s funding could be eliminated from the 2026 budget. This is a drying reduction for well-known institutions that may be implemented starting this year.

The administration wants to eliminate the work of hundreds of federal and academic scientists studying human-driven global warming, Science reported.

The cut is on top of at least 1,000 NOAA jobs that were eliminated last month under a dramatic reduction overseen by the so-called Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Scientists say further reductions could have significant consequences given NOAA’s national and globally important role in weather forecasting, climate research and fisheries conservation.

Scientists say that researchers and labs around the world rely on NOAA data and mathematical models, so the end of a research program can have dramatic impact.

It could also have an impact on the US economy, given the enormous reliance on NOAA weather forecasts and data on agricultural sector and fisheries.

“This administration’s hostility towards climate science research and rejection will result in splitting the weather forecasting capabilities that this plan claims to preserve,” Lofgren wrote.

“What NOAA does is important for life-saving weather research and services it offers to Americans.”

Some conservatives view NOAA as the main provider of what they call “climate warnings.”

The Trump administration launched a coordinated attack on government climate-related resources, ordered massive layoffs and removed a website containing weather and climate data.

The White House also wants to cut budgets to NASA branches, which are tasked with using satellites to research and monitor the impacts of climate change, according to media reports.

©2025 AFP