Rep. Joe Neguse calls Trump's National Center for Atmospheric Research breakup plan an "unlawful" act of retaliation

A Democratic congressman from Colorado is among those leading the opposition to plans by President Trump's administration to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

"I think the announcement is deeply dangerous. I think it is reckless. It's short-sighted and ultimately unlawful," said Rep. Joe Neguse, the U.S. House Assistant Minority Leader.

NCAR is located in Boulder and employs 830 people, according to Colorado lawmakers. White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought called it "one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country." He said on Wednesday in a statement that a review of the center by the National Science Foundation is underway and suggested some people who work there will be moved to other federal departments.

Neguse, whose district includes Boulder, said the work done at NCAR in Colorado is "life-saving and critical for our national security." The congressman said he believes the move is an act of retaliation by the president against the state. Trump has been critical of Colorado's governor for not ending the state prison term of Tina Peters, the former county clerk and top election official in Mesa County.

"It has nothing to do with the work that's being done every day at NCAR ... and everything to do with politics and the Trump administration's general lawlessness, to try to secure the release of Tina Peters, who had been convicted of state criminal offenses in Colorado," he said. "This is part and parcel, I think, of a strategy by the Trump administration to retaliate against the state of Colorado."

A senior White House official told CBS Colorado that "NCAR was founded for legitimate weather research, not climate alarmism" but that an institutional shift to climate change happened in the 1980s. The official cited NCAR's research into wind turbines and the formation of a center for Indigenous and earth sciences as a "woke" waste of taxpayer funds.

"By restructuring the lab, President Trump is restoring NCAR to its original purpose and undoing the diversion that took place," the spokesperson said.

If plans move forward for the center to be dismantled, Neguse said he will form a bipartisan coalition intended to stop it.

"We're certainly going to pursue every procedural tool we can," Neguse said. "This action, it's clear to me, is blatantly unlawful, given the retaliatory motive in particular, and I think there could be legal grounds to challenge the decision on that basis, as well as other procedural motions that we might be able to make over the coming months to make the case here in Congress that this action cannot stand."

Neguse said the scientific research that takes place at NCAR is "not partisan work."

"It's work that deeply implicates our national security. And the elimination of that work, the elimination of the facility, I think, would put us at a very deep competitive disadvantage," he said.

The congressman says dismantling the lab could have significant consequences for severe weather prediction in Colorado, as well as the state's economy and status as a science hub.

"The war on science that the Trump administration has initiated very much is, I think, centered on Colorado as a state," he said.

The White House says after breaking up NCAR, in addition to jobs, they plan to move some vital functions, like weather modeling and supercomputing, to other entities, but they didn't state which ones.

The following is the response from the White House when CBS Colorado asked for more information about their Wednesday announcement:

Restructuring the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

NSF's National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), located in Boulder, CO, houses the largest federal research program on climate change -- serving as the premier research stronghold for left-wing climate lunacy. For instance, Nancy Pelosi applauded the program during her 2022 visit, stating that NCAR blazes "new trails in our nation's fight against the climate crisis."

Following a comprehensive review, the National Science Foundation will be breaking up NCAR to eliminate Green New Scam research activities. Any vital functions, such as weather modeling and supercomputing, will be moved under the purview of another entity or location. Parts of the lab may be moved to another entity.

NCAR was founded for legitimate weather research, not climate alarmism: NCAR was instituted in 1960 to focus on practical research in atmospheric chemistry and physical meteorology.

The institutional shift to climate change took place during the 1980s, when the federal government began to heavily fund such research. NCAR's budget more than doubled from the 80s to the 90s under federal climate alarmism. In a 1992 Nature article, scientific peers worried that this influx in funding would cause NCAR to, "forget about its core mission to support academic atmospheric researchers." By restructuring the lab, President Trump is restoring NCAR to its original purpose and undoing the diversion that took place.

Many of NCAR's activities veer far from strong or useful science. Under UCAR's woke direction, NCAR wastes taxpayer funds on frivolous pursuits and ideologies.

•              Its Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Sciences aimed to, "make the sciences more welcoming, inclusive, and justice-centered." This involved joining "indigenous knowledge" with climate research.

•              One of its art series, Exploring Water Through Art, examined, "our relationship with water through mediums such as recycled materials, photography, oil paintings, and more."

•              Its research into wind turbines sought to "better understand and predict the impact of weather conditions and changing climate on offshore wind production."

•              Its "FRAPPÉ" experiment traced air pollution to demonize motor vehicles, oil, and gas operations.