House appropriators unveiled legislation Tuesday that would force NOAA to make big budget cuts next year, part of a larger effort to reduce the Department of Commerce’s discretionary spending by 9 percent in fiscal 2025.
The Commerce Department, which oversees NOAA, would receive $980 million less than it did in fiscal 2024 under the Republican bill set for a subcommittee markup Wednesday.
As part of their pledge to rein in federal spending, House GOP appropriators rejected President Joe Biden’s call to increase NOAA’s spending by nearly 4 percent for fiscal 2025.
While Biden proposed a budget of roughly $6.6 billion, GOP appropriators suggested whittling it down to $5.6 billion. If approved, that would be a cut of $676 million from the spending approved by Congress in fiscal 2024.
