Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration is reportedly moving to cut millions in funding for a deep-ocean observation system that has been critical to climate and ocean research.
According to The New York Times, the administration will soon do away with the $368 million network of instruments used to monitor coastal environments, marine ecosystems, and powerful currents that affect the global climate.
The system was created in 2016 and was planned to continue on for 25 years.
But this month, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will begin removing the 900 instruments anchored near coasts off of Oregon, Washington State, Alaska, North Carolina, and an area between Greenland and Iceland known as the Irminger Sea – a process that could take 15 months.
An NSF spokesperson said the Trump administration's decision to dismantle the system aligns with the group's intent to adopt "a nimbler approach" to its research.
On the other hand, Craig McLean, who served as acting chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during Trump's first term, said the move shows a "lack of understanding that the current administration has of scientific value and scientific merit" and argued it puts the US in "a rear seat in global scientific leadership."
The Trump administration tried in 2025 and again in 2026 to have funds for the project cut, but in both instances, Congress ruled to return the money.