The Senate’s tentative five-bill appropriations package collapsed after Colorado Democrats blocked progress in protest of the Trump administration’s plan to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper demanded guarantees that NCAR’s funding and operations be protected, citing potential cuts of 30–40% from the National Science Foundation. Conservative holds had eased earlier in the week, but the NCAR announcement derailed bipartisan momentum and left the package’s passage before the new year in doubt.
Senate Minibus Deal Collapses After Trump Plan To Break Up Colorado Climate Center
A tentative bipartisan agreement to fund large portions of the federal government unraveled Thursday after Colorado’s two Democratic senators demanded protections for a major climate research center targeted by the Trump administration.
Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) blocked unanimous consent to set dates and amendment votes on a five-bill “minibus” appropriations package after the White House announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. The package, if enacted, would have funded roughly 85 to 90 percent of the federal government through September 2026.
NCAR Targeted, Senate Response
The senators said the administration’s move to break up NCAR — a leading atmospheric and climate research institution — was a dealbreaker. Hickenlooper and Bennet demanded that Republicans agree to language guaranteeing the center’s continued funding and operation before allowing the package to proceed.
“We need to fix this problem. We’ll have to work together to figure out how to do this,” Bennet said on the Senate floor, stressing NCAR’s importance to national weather and climate analysis.
Hickenlooper warned that recent guidance from the National Science Foundation (NSF) could cut NCAR grant funding by an estimated 30 to 40 percent, which he said would threaten the institution’s viability.
Negotiations Unravel
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) had been pressing to pass the five-bill package before the holiday recess. Momentum built earlier in the week after conservative holdouts — Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) — removed their objections following negotiations.
But the NCAR announcement shifted the dynamics. Several senators who had worked toward a compromise said the timing of the White House decision undercut the fragile bipartisan progress.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, posted on X that the NSF “will be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research,” calling the institution “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.” The post drew a sharp rebuke from Senate Democrats.
Reactions From Lawmakers
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned the administration’s action and urged Republican colleagues to intervene. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a leading voice on climate, called NCAR a “global crown jewel of science” whose work informs critical policy and safety decisions.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, acknowledged NCAR’s importance to states like Alaska, where atmospheric and ocean research affects key industries such as fishing and tourism. She said the dispute had “blew everything up” after she thought Interior funding issues had been resolved.
Late Thursday, Bennet and Hickenlooper told colleagues they would not allow the package to advance without a firm, written commitment to protect NCAR’s funding and operations. Their refusal to proceed left the fate of the minibus uncertain and made passage before the new year unlikely.
The impasse illustrates how a single administration decision can derail complex, often hard-won bipartisan spending agreements — especially when it touches high-profile research institutions and scientific funding priorities.
