Trump administration's dismantling of Boulder's National Center for Atmospheric Research is illegal, universities allege in new lawsuit

Elise Schmelzer, The Denver Post on Mar 16, 2026

Published in Science & Technology News

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DENVER — A consortium of universities filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the Trump administration’s planned dismantling of Boulder’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, alleging that the planned reorganization violates the Constitution and federal law.

The plaintiff is the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a nonprofit consortium of 129 North American universities that manages NCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation. UCAR sued several federal agencies and their leaders in Colorado’s federal court.

The administration’s plans to neuter NCAR are part of a “campaign of retaliation” against Colorado’s state government and its leaders for maintaining mail-in voting and refusing, so far, to grant clemency to Tina Peters, a former county clerk and Trump ally convicted of felonies in an election misconduct case, the lawsuit alleges.

“These actions pose a direct threat to national security, public safety, and economic prosperity and risk setting back the country’s global leadership in weather and space weather modeling and forecasting,” leaders from the university group wrote in a news release announcing the litigation. “We are hopeful that this lawsuit will prevent future unlawful action by the agencies.”

The Trump administration first announced its intention to “break up” NCAR in December, with a top budget official calling it “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.”

While the institute investigates climate change, its mission is much broader and encompasses every aspect of how the earth’s atmosphere and weather systems interact. That includes research on earthquakes, flooding, drought, geomagnetic storms in space, wildfires, wind, storms and more.

The center provides the data and models that other institutions and universities rely on for forecasting and research. Industries like aviation, agriculture and shipping also rely on its information to make decisions.

About 820 employees work for NCAR, approximately half of whom live in the Boulder area and work at the center’s iconic building perched on a hill on the edge of town.

The plans to dismantle NCAR prompted a recent rebuke from some members of Colorado’s congressional delegation. Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd joined three Democrats — Rep. Joe Neguse and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper — in a letter submitted last week to the National Science Foundation to oppose the administration’s plans.

“In sum, we oppose the restructuring and weakening of NCAR, which would erode critical research capacity, disrupt long-standing partnerships, and diminish our ability to understand, anticipate, and respond to extreme weather-related risks,” their letter read.

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