Colorado senators continue to oppose and vote “no” due to lack of NCAR protection

Jan 15, 2026

This morning, the Senate by an overwhelming margin of 85-14 passed the cloture motion on bill H.R. 6938, the “minibus” appropriations bill that will fund most federal science agencies, including NOAA, NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). As I understand it, cloture means that the bill will now go to a 30 hour period of debate before a final vote.

Obviously, this budget bill has a lot of favorable items for these agencies (particularly in contrast to the Trump Administration’s budget proposals and activities), but there continues to be concern about the lack of any specific wording protecting NSF’s National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. Among the 14 “no” votes to the cloture motion were Colorado Democratic senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, who have voiced strong opposition to the bill due to the lack of that protection.

As I posted about on Monday, those senators drafted and submitted an amendment to H.R. 6938 that would protect NCAR and require the administration to spend money allocated to NCAR. Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-SD) action to “fill the amendment tree” that I discussed yesterday will (again, as I understand it as a meteorologist, not a political scientist) limit the likelihood of any amendments being added to the bill prior to a final vote after the debate period. It remains to be seen if the Colorado senators have any other parliamentary actions to try to slow the bill or force consideration of their amendment — but the overwhelming vote in support of cloture leads me to think the most likely outcome at this point is that the bill will pass without such an amendment.

Again, the joint explanatory statement that accompanies this bill does include language that would seem to at a minimum require the administration to report to Congress its plans for operating its research facilities and generically states “the Committee expects NSF to fully fund its U.S. scientific research facilities and instruments to adequately support scientists and students engaged in sustained, cutting-edge research.” How that wording will influence the administration’s stated plans to “dismantle” NCAR obviously remains to be seen — but I think it is reasonable to continue to be concerned about the future of NCAR without any specific wording of protection in the budget bill. Obviously, I will be keeping an eye on what is transpiring in the Senate and will post any new information I see.

A quick weather update…the colder air continues to funnel into the eastern part of the country, with heavy lake effect snow expected downstream of the Great Lakes. I continue to keep a close eye on this weekend as the next impressive shot of cold air comes south. The models continue to struggle with how much of a low pressure systems might develop along the East Coast this weekend, and as of now a weaker, more offshore solution continues to be favored. However, there is some potential for at least a light snow event in parts of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coastal regions on Sunday — along with continued lake effect snows and snow at the higher elevations of the Appalachians and interior Northeast.