{"id":60,"date":"2026-05-09T08:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T08:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=60"},"modified":"2026-05-09T08:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T08:33:13","slug":"ucar-asks-court-to-stop-trumps-ncar-breakup-while-legal-challenge-plays-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=60","title":{"rendered":"UCAR asks court to stop Trump\u2019s NCAR breakup while legal challenge plays out"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the consortium of universities that manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has asked a federal court to immediately halt the government\u2019s efforts to break up NCAR while its lawsuit proceeds.<\/p>\n

Read more Furloughs canceled at Boulder NOAA Global Monitoring Lab after $4 million in federal funding released<\/a><\/p>\n

In a motion filed April 3, UCAR requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the Trump administration, including the National Science Foundation, Department of Commerce and Office of Management and Budget, from taking further steps to divest NCAR and UCAR of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NCAR is funded by the National Science Foundation. In February, the NSF announced plans to transfer the supercomputing center to a third party, which the lawsuit alleges is the University of Wyoming. The move is seen as the first step in a plan announced in December to break up NCAR, whose headquarters are in Boulder. UCAR argues that without court intervention, NCAR would lose highly skilled employees and its forecasting abilities would be compromised.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransferring NWSC [NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center] management would result in the loss of jobs, disrupt ongoing research projects, and impede UCAR\u2019s ability to perform its contractual obligations with both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and third-parties,\u201d the preliminary injunction reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA transfer would also undermine the nation\u2019s ability to forecast and respond to devastating natural disasters, risking lives and property.\u201d<\/p>\n

The supercomputing center is one of several key NCAR assets not located in Boulder. Plans to shift its management were among the first steps the Trump administration took to break up NCAR and \u201crescope\u201d its work. In March, Rep. Joe Neguse said he had confirmed a whistleblower\u2019s claims that the Trump administration planned to transfer parts of NCAR\u2019s space weather program, based in Boulder, to a private company. Boulder Reporting Lab has not independently verified those claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NCAR is a world-renowned atmospheric science laboratory that conducts research and provides data and forecasting tools used by scientists, forecasters and federal agencies nationwide. It is run by UCAR, a Boulder-based nonprofit consortium of 129 universities, established under a 1960 contract with the NSF to create NCAR. The Trump administration\u2019s effort to dismantle it began in December. At the time, Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, called the federal lab \u201cone of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both UCAR and Democratic lawmakers argue the effort is part of broader actions taken by the Trump administration in retaliation for Gov. Jared Polis\u2019s refusal to grant clemency to Tina Peters, an election official convicted of felonies related to 2020 election conspiracy theories. UCAR\u2019s lawsuit hinges in part on proving this point.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Hickenlooper has been among those making that argument.<\/p>\n

When asked at a press conference at CU Boulder on April 3 how he knew the Trump administration was targeting NCAR because of Peters, he responded, \u201cBecause he said it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said again and again that because Gov. Polis won\u2019t give Tina a pardon, he thinks Colorado is a rogue state,\u201d Hickenlooper told a group of reporters, including Boulder Reporting Lab. \u201cIn essence, he\u2019s saying it should be punished.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While UCAR challenges the Trump administration\u2019s effort to break up NCAR in court, CU Boulder has responded to the NSF\u2019s call for proposals with a plan to take over NCAR\u2019s core functions alongside partner universities, including the University of Wyoming. The proposal would appear to replace UCAR while maintaining much of NCAR\u2019s current structure.<\/p>\n

The court has not yet ruled on UCAR\u2019s request. It could grant the injunction, pausing further federal action, if it finds UCAR is likely to win its case and would suffer \u201cirreparable harm\u201d without the injunction.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018A really bad fire season\u2019? Boulder County official warns conditions are already in place<\/a><\/p>\n

UCAR argues that is the case. In addition to job losses, UCAR argues its own credit ratings are tied to the operation of the center and would be harmed by a lapse. Losing access to the supercomputing center would also undermine its ability to fulfill contracts, including its agreement with the NSF to run NCAR, the organization argued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEven a temporary gap in NWSC operation or management risks compromising real-time space weather predictions that facilitate disaster preparation,\u201d UCAR said. \u201cFurthermore, researchers have designed multi-year projects that depend on NWSC\u2019s specific capabilities, fluid operation, and integration with NCAR\u2019s earth science models and data archives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a severe weather event occurs during a period of degraded forecasting capability, no amount of money damages would bring back lives lost or property destroyed because of inadequate warnings.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCAR also requested an expedited hearing schedule that would give the government 10 days to respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Trump administration argued that the expedited schedule is not necessary or practical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its response, also filed April 3, the administration argued that \u201ceven if\u201d UCAR is correct that a decision to transfer the supercomputing center was made Feb. 12, the transfer would not happen quickly. UCAR \u201cdoes not explain how it would be physically possible to transfer stewardship, operation, or maintenance\u2019 of a Supercomputing Center within a matter of days,\u201d the administration wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Indeed, it has not happened despite Plaintiff\u2019s allegation that a final decision issued more than seven weeks ago),\u201d it continued.<\/p>\n

Administration lawyers also argued that the expedited schedule was not achievable because the two federal trial attorneys assigned to the case \u201chave preexisting travel plans (one of them international)\u201d between April 4 and 8, leaving limited time to respond.<\/p>\n

On April 6, the court granted UCAR\u2019s request for an expedited hearing, but on a slower timeline, under the assumption that the supercomputing center will not be transferred before the hearing.<\/p>\n

If found necessary, the court will hold a preliminary injunction hearing on May 7.<\/p>\n

Read more Boulder crews respond to vegetation fire near Chautauqua<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UCAR warns transferring a Wyoming supercomputing center could disrupt forecasting and cost jobs as the case proceeds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trump-2-0-in-boulder","tag-ncar"],"yoast_head":"\nUCAR asks court to stop Trump\u2019s NCAR breakup while legal challenge plays out - Boulder Moving Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=60\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCAR asks court to stop Trump\u2019s NCAR breakup while legal challenge plays out - 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