House Science subcommittee presses NOAA over proposed FY2027 cuts to research and observing systems

The House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Environment held a hearing April 21 to review the Trump administration's fiscal year 2027 budget request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, focusing on proposed reductions to research programs and changes to how NOAA collects environmental data.

Subcommittee Chairman Franklin opened the hearing by saying the budget should be judged on whether it "advance[s] [NOAA's] mission" to protect lives and property and noted support for expanding commercially sourced data and modernizing forecasting systems, including migrating AWIPS to the cloud. He told the witness the president's request "was $4,400,000,000" and described a $1.1 billion decrease from the prior year, while multiple members later cited different figures during the hearing.

NOAA Administrator Dr. Neil Jacobs, the witness, said NOAA's FY2027 discretionary request is $4,540,000,000 and described priorities including a $75 million increase for unmanned surface vessels, a $60 million increase to accelerate acquisition of class C vessels, continued investment in GeoXO satellite planning, and migration of AWIPS to a cloud framework to permit flexible, surge forecasting support. "We will continue to leverage partnerships to spur innovation in weather and space enterprises," Jacobs said.

Why it matters: Committee members from both parties warned the administration's proposal would eliminate the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), scale back the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), and cut cooperative institutes and seed grants that many members said underpin improvements in forecasting, coastal resilience and regional economic activity. Ranking Member Ramo said the proposal "is cutting to the bone," citing what he described as a $1.6 billion reduction, and asked for firm commitments that NOAA would maintain core observation and forecasting services.

Members pressed Jacobs on multiple fronts. Chairman Franklin asked how NOAA will use the $75 million for unmanned systems; Jacobs described a two‑pronged approach: for one‑off mapping it may be more efficient to "buy the data," while for regular fisheries surveys NOAA would procure autonomous platforms. On aircraft modernization, Jacobs said NOAA is procuring two high‑altitude G‑550s (one arriving later this year, a second expected in FY2028) and two C‑130s with deliveries expected by 2030. Jacobs said those aircraft will carry dropsondes, deploy drones and carry wing‑mounted radar pods where needed.

Several members argued that eliminating OAR and cutting extramural research would harm the research‑to‑operations pipeline. Representative Bonamici and others warned the changes could weaken forecasting improvements, regional climate services and research labs such as the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Jacobs replied that NOAA's proposal would transition much applied research into operational offices (the Weather Service and Ocean Service) and that some lower‑readiness basic research would see reduced funding while higher‑readiness work that can move quickly into operations would be prioritized.

On satellites and instruments, Ranking Member Lofgren asked when NOAA will provide an updated GeoXO plan. Jacobs said NOAA is “still working through” a rebaseline and must reconcile competing instrument suites, including whether to acquire a lightning mapper directly or to rely on commercial partners selling similar data. He agreed to brief the committee when the plan is finalized and to provide cost analyses comparing commercial services to government acquisitions.

Members also pressed Jacobs about staffing and program continuity. Jacobs told the committee that NOAA has authority to hire and that, for the Weather Service, 206 final offers had been made and 204 employees onboarded under a recently authorized 450‑person hiring package. He said NOAA had cleared over 1,500 transactions to obligate FY26 funds and provided a spend plan to the Appropriations Committee on April 21.

On more specific operational concerns: Representative Gillen raised shortages of National Weather Service aviation meteorologists at FAA centers; Jacobs emphasized ongoing hiring and noted some FAA support is funded by FAA. On rip‑current forecasts and the potential elimination of IOOS, Jacobs described higher‑resolution coastal models and experiments using beach video and artificial intelligence to detect rip currents as part of a possible suite of approaches to maintain services.

On commercial partnerships and data sourcing, Jacobs repeated that NOAA does not plan to "abandon a government backbone" but sees commercial data acquisition as additive and evaluated on mission needs, costs and data quality. He said roughly 60–70% of ingest data comes from international meteorological centers through long‑standing data‑sharing arrangements.

The hearing included detailed exchanges on Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act permitting, with Representative Finn Epps saying the National Ocean Service had received more than 12 applications; Jacobs said NOAA is still learning where process bottlenecks are, expects the first application to complete review soon and would like an online portal for applicants to track progress.

What the committee left on the record: Members repeatedly asked for written plans and briefings — including GeoXO rebaseline details, spending plans, and analyses of where program cuts might affect services. The chairman left the record open for 10 days for additional comments and written questions and then adjourned the hearing.

The committee's concern centers on whether the administration's proposed reorganization and funding shifts will preserve critical research capabilities and frontline forecasting services. Jacobs pledged to work with members on communications, spend plans and program transitions, while members signaled they would press to retain key research and observing programs during appropriations and authorization reviews.

The record will remain open for 10 days for additional comments and written questions from members; the hearing was adjourned.