National Science Foundation and White House sued for refusing to release government records

(WASHINGTON) Today, Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice, and Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for withholding information about their plans to dismantle the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). 

The lawsuit was filed after both the Union of Concerned Scientists and Environmental Defense Fund filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to the Trump administration’s decision to dismantle NCAR and eliminate its climate research functions. To date, Union of Concerned Scientists and Environmental Defense Fund have received no substantive responses.

“For more than six decades, NCAR has provided life-saving weather and climate science that helps protect people and communities from extreme storms while strengthening our economy and national security”, says Dr. Carlos Martinez, Senior Climate Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Losing NCAR would set back scientific research, with real consequences for people’s lives and livelihoods. As a taxpayer-funded public good, NCAR belongs to all of us, and we deserve to know the rationale and deliberations behind any effort to dismantle or restructure it.”

NCAR is critical infrastructure designed to integrate observations, modeling, supercomputing, and applied research, and its science is behind some of the biggest advancements in our understanding of the world around us. From aviation safety and weather forecasts to agricultural planning and flood risk assessment, NCAR underpins our nation’s public safety, economic prosperity, and national defense.

“The Trump administration is threatening to wreck the most important weather lab in the United States,” said Hana Vizcarra, Deputy Managing Attorney at Earthjustice. “They cannot hide their decision making from the American people.”

“NCAR’s research helps us understand the impacts of climate change and keeps Americans safe and prepared in the face of dangerous storms, fires and floods,” said Erin Murphy, Lead Counsel, Clean Air and Energy Markets at Environmental Defense Fund. “The public has the right to know about the Trump administration’s secretive, harmful actions to dismantle essential climate science research at NCAR.”

Background 

The Freedom of Information Act provides the public with the right to request access to records from federal agencies. In response, agencies must disclose the information requested unless it falls under narrow, specific exemptions – for example, because the information is classified to protect national security, or disclosure is prohibited by another law.

In December 2025, OMB Director Russell Vought announced that the National Science Foundation would break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a federally funded institution that underpins critical science Americans rely on. 

OMB and NSF decided to eliminate climate modeling and research functions at NCAR, according to documents made public in a lawsuit brought by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the consortium of universities that manages NCAR. This action would significantly limit our understanding of how increasingly extreme weather, fueled by climate change, is putting Americans at risk.