{"id":395,"date":"2026-06-01T22:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=395"},"modified":"2026-06-01T22:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:35:12","slug":"federal-judge-blocks-breakup-of-ncar-in-boulder-while-blasting-trump-for-enacting-political-revenge-on-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=395","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge blocks breakup of NCAR in Boulder while blasting Trump for enacting political revenge on Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A federal judge in Denver on Monday blocked federal officials from breaking up Boulder\u2019s National Center for Atmospheric Research by handing over a renowned supercomputing center to the University of Wyoming, in a 38-page injunction raking the Trump administration for enacting political revenge on Colorado.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Tina Peters released from Colorado prison. Corrections officials remain tight-lipped over her parole conditions.<\/a><\/p>\n

Senior U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson issued an injunction because the National Science Foundation divesting the supercomputing center was \u201carbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law,\u201d according to the ruling. Jackson said his injunction was necessary because the lawsuit filed in March by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, or UCAR, was likely to succeed, and that too much damage had already been done to the supercomputing center\u2019s operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center has \u201calready lost significant number of experts in supercomputing, for example, with the chance of losing many more,\u201d the judge wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The National Science Foundation declined comment on the injunction late Monday, through head of media affairs Mike England.<\/p>\n

UCAR, a consortium of more than 100 universities and the contracted manager of NCAR operations, \u201chas made a showing of irreparable harm through the significant \u2018brain drain\u2019 that it is already experiencing as a direct result\u201d of the National Science Foundation\u2019s attempted transfer, the judge wrote. \u201cIt will also continue to lose critical employees \u2014 including scientists, engineers, and systems administrators \u2014 that are essential to the continuous and proper functioning of the NWSC.\u201d<\/p>\n

The original lawsuit and the injunction say the supercomputing center is a \u201cpillar\u201d of the nation\u2019s atmospheric research. Judge Jackson agreed with the UCAR lawsuit\u2019s claim that breaking off parts of NCAR, dismantling projects and potentially firing thousands of employees was intended by Trump and agency officials as direct political revenge.<\/p>\n

UCAR\u2019s suit employed the same arguments that Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser used in dozens of lawsuits: that Trump sought retribution for Colorado voting Democratic in elections and imprisoning former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters after was convicted of\u00a0 sentence for orchestrating a security breach of her county\u2019s election system in 2021 in a failed attempt to uncover voter fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, Peters was released from a Pueblo prison Monday morning under a clemency order by Gov. Jared Polis, who said her original nine-year prison sentence was too long. In yet another twist, many Colorado Democrats are now furious with Polis for ordering her to be paroled after serving less than two years of her sentence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more JD Vance tells Air Force Academy graduates to prepare for entirely new era of warfare<\/a><\/p>\n

In his injunction, Jackson accepted UCAR\u2019s timeline of how the attacks on NCAR developed in early 2026, noting that the administration had previously floated general ideas for turning over federal agency duties to other entities.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cNo action followed until President Trump publicly criticized Governor Polis for refusing to release Ms. Peters after his own pardon did not achieve that result. The next day, (Office of Management and Budget) Director (Russell) Vought publicly announced the breakup of NCAR on social media,\u201d Jackson wrote. (Trump could not legally pardon Peters because she was convicted on state charges; only Polis could pardon her or commute her sentence.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Court finds that UCAR is likely to succeed on its claim that NSF\u2019s decision to divest it of stewardship\u201d over the supercomputing center violated federal procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, the agency has offered no explanation for its decision. Second, the agency failed to abide its own process to consider public feedback before proceeding with the transfer,\u201d Jackson wrote. He cited NSF\u2019s \u201cflagrant disregard\u201d of its own rules and procedures.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The injunction is necessary while the lawsuit plays out, Jackson added, because allowing the transfer would prompt more employees to leave and decimate the supercomputing center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUCAR further warns that, as a result of the transfer process now underway, it may have to close the facility and conduct mass layoffs,\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe resulting loss of institutional knowledge and technical expertise would create substantial risks to the operational stability of the (center) and the forecasting and modeling systems that depend on it,\u201d Jackson wrote. \u201cThe United States military, federal agencies, and private-sector partners rely on the work performed and data produced at the (center) to make critical operational decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Does Fort Collins have a ban on electronic billboards?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge blocked Trump officials from breaking up the renowned National Center for Atmospheric Research, citing illegal political revenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"yoast_head":"\nFederal judge blocks breakup of NCAR in Boulder while blasting Trump for enacting political revenge on Colorado - Colorado Relocation Report<\/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:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=395\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal judge blocks breakup of NCAR in Boulder while blasting Trump for enacting political revenge on Colorado - 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