Lawsuit aims to stop Trump administration from dissolving largest climate and weather research lab in the US
The National Center for Atmospheric Research is under a "comprehensive review."
The consortium of universities that leads the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is suing the Trump administration over the move to dismantle the nation's largest weather and climate research center.
The lawsuit alleges that the move to dissolve the climate center, which is located in Boulder, Colorado, is "collateral damage" over the tension between President Donald Trump and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
The conflict stems from a December 2025 incident in which Polis allegedly refused to grant clemency to former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, who had been convicted in August 2024 for her role in a scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to the lawsuit. It was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
On Dec. 15, Trump called Polis a "weak and pathetic man" during an Oval Office press conference for not allowing Peters to be released.
The next day, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF) would be breaking up NCAR, claiming in a post on X that it is "one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country."
"A comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location," Vought wrote.
The NSF said in a Dec. 17 statement that it would be reviewing the structure of the research and observational capabilities operated by the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research but remained "committed to providing world-class infrastructure for weather modeling, space weather research and forecasting, and other critical functions."
In a statement to ABC News on Dec. 17, a senior White House official appeared to place the blame on Polis.
"Maybe if Colorado had a governor who actually wanted to work with President Trump, his constituents would be better served," the official said.
In a statement sent to ABC News on Tuesday, White House spokesman Kush Desai denied that Polis was a factor in the decision.
“President Trump is using his lawful and discretionary authority to ensure federal dollars are being spent in a way that aligns with the agenda endorsed by the American people when they resoundingly reelected the President," he wrote. "Allegations of funding being allocated due to retaliation are imagined and entirely false."
Polis said in a statement to ABC News that Colorado is home to "some of the best scientific and climate research institutions in the nation" and that denying important climate and weather data necessary to keep people safe "should not be political."
"Attempting to break up NCAR is unnecessary and makes our communities, firefighters, and armed forces less prepared for devastating weather events, and hurts leading edge scientific research across the United States," the governor said.
The lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of violating the Constitution in the actions taken against UCAR and NCAR, including "violating long-established procedural limitations on agency action, exceeding the bounds of their statutory authority, and eroding the principles of federalism at the core of our constitutional structure."
"This ongoing and unlawful wrongdoing also poses a direct threat to America’s national, economic, and public-health security and risks derailing the United States’ global leadership in atmospheric research, weather forecasting, and supercomputing," the court document states.
Among the agencies named as defendants in the lawsuit are the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and their respective directors in their official capacity.
The lawsuit requests the court to declare the actions taken against NCAR and UCAR as "unlawful" and to issue and injunction to prevent future unlawful actions to be taken by the agencies.
NCAR is a federally funded research and development center managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and receives most of its funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency. In addition to conducting climate research, NCAR also provides the tools, platforms, models and datasets used to study and forecast weather and understand its impacts on communities.
It has been a cornerstone of U.S. weather and climate research since 1960, producing science that is fundamental in advancing understanding of Earth’s climate, weather and atmosphere and how those systems contribute to severe weather events, climate change and disasters.
"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," UCAR said in a statement. "We are hopeful that this lawsuit will prevent future unlawful action by the agencies."
In a statement, the American Meteorological Society warned of "severe consequences" to weather research and innovation should NCAR be rapidly dismantled.
"The breakup of NCAR will harm meteorological research and innovation in the United States with severe consequences to current and future efforts of the weather enterprise to protect life, property, and the nation’s economy," the AMS said.
A spokesperson for the NSF declined to comment on pending litigation. NOAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
ABC News' Briana Alvarado, Matthew Glasser and Daniel Peck contributed to this report.
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