U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration's plan to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder [1].
The ruling prevents the removal of the center's supercomputer and protects the facility from being shuttered. This decision preserves a critical hub for climate and atmospheric research that supports global weather forecasting and scientific study.
The injunction was issued on June 13, 2023 [2]. According to court documents, the administration's effort to strip NCAR of its supercomputer was arbitrary and possibly retaliatory, Peterson said [3].
The court's decision follows allegations that the move was not based on scientific or budgetary needs. Instead, the injunction was issued in response to evidence that the move was politically motivated retaliation against Colorado election official Tina Peters [4].
While some reports focus on the Boulder facility, other records indicate the administration targeted three agencies in total [5]. The court halted the plan to dismantle these agencies, including NCAR, a court spokesperson said [6].
The National Center for Atmospheric Research serves as a primary site for atmospheric study in Colorado. The legal block ensures that the facility continues its operations while the underlying motivations for the administration's actions are scrutinized by the court [1].
“The administration's effort to strip NCAR of its supercomputer was arbitrary and possibly retaliatory.”
This ruling establishes a legal precedent against the use of federal agency dismantling as a tool for political retaliation. By linking the attempt to close a scientific institution to a dispute with a local election official, the court highlighted the risks of politicizing scientific infrastructure and the administrative state.
