Good News for NOAA, NRCS as Congress Rejects Trump's Radical Spending Cuts

Rob Goldstein

Jul 15th, 2025

Conservation agencies can breathe a little easier... for now. Congressional committees have largely rejected Trump's extreme spending cuts for Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In April, the Trump administration released a 2026 budget request that proposed radical cuts to many conservation agencies and programs. NRCS was slated for a massive 87% funding cut. The administration proposed eliminating NOAA's entire research division (OAR). Other conservation agencies were facing extreme cuts as well—at least on paper.

But Congress holds the power of the purse. Congressional committees are right now drafting the 2026 spending bills—legislation that will require 60 votes to pass in the Senate. The big question agencies were facing: would Congress follow the president's desire for severe cuts or would bipartisanship and common sense keep agency funding in line with past years?

The House and Senate Committees on Agriculture, which oversee NRCS funding, have released their draft 2026 spending bills. The Senate bill maintains NRCS discretionary spending at 2025 levels. The House bill cuts funding about 5%.

The House committee overseeing NOAA released an early version of its spending bill. It's not all good news. The House bill makes significant cuts to NOAA. Total spending is cut 8% or $540 million below 2024 levels. But this is much less than the $1.8 billion in cuts to NOAA (below 2024 levels) sought by Trump.

The House bill currently doesn't provide much detail on specific programs. However, we can see that it fully funds the Pacific Salmon Recovery Fund which Trump had proposed eliminating. And NOAA's top line number in the bill likely means that NOAA Research is safe.

We also don't know if this trend will hold for the other committees that have yet to release their spending bills. This includes the Interior-Environment Committees that oversee agencies like the National Park Service. But the early news is promising.

Below I have updated the list of conservation funding at-risk:

1) AmeriCorps

FY25 Funding Amount: $1.262 billion
FY26 Trump Proposal: $107 million ($1,155 billion cut), -91%
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: AmeriCorps plays a major role in conservation work and early career professional development. Learn more about Trump's dismantling of AmeriCorps. Trump's budget request eliminates AmeriCorps entirely. The FY26 funding would be used for the administrative costs of winding down operations. Essentially this would help codify the elimination of AmeriCorps.

2) USGS - Ecosystem Mission Area

FY25 Funding Amount: $292 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $0.00 ($292 million cut), 100% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: USGS Ecosystem Mission Area is the backbone of our nation's ecological research. Read more here. Trump is proposing elimination of this critically important agency division.

3) National Park Service

FY25 Funding Amount: $3.337 billion
FY26 Trump Proposal: $2.116 billion ($1,220 billion cut), 37% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: These are steep cuts for an already underfunded agency. It would likely result in the closure or reduced visiting hours of many sites.

4) Bureau of Land Management - Conservation Funding

FY25 Funding Amount: $758 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $395 million ($362 million cut), 48% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: For this funding area, I'm combining the divisions within the BLM responsible for land management and conservation: a) Land Resources, b) Wildlife Habitat Management & Aquatic Resources, c) Recreation Management, d) Resource Protection & Maintenance, and e) National Conservation Lands.

The BLM manages 245 million acres land. Trump's funding proposal would fund those efforts for the entire year at less than $2 per acre.

5) US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) - Total Agency

FY25 Funding Amount: $1.677 billion
FY26 Trump Proposal: $1.139 billion ($538 million cut), 32% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: This is the funding level for the entire agency which includes enforcing federal laws like the Endangered Species Act and managing our National Wildlife Refuge system (which is larger than our National Parks).

6) USFWS - Wildlife Conservation Grants

FY25 Funding Amount: $169 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $0.00 ($169 million cut). 100% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: This also falls within (5) Total Agency, but I'm breaking it out separately due to the urgency.

In this funding area, I'm combing 5 conservation grant programs that Trump wants to end: Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, North American Wetlands Conservation Fund, Multinational Species Conservation Fund, Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, State and Tribal Wildlife Grants.

7) US Forest Service - Forest and Rangeland Research

FY25 Funding Amount: $300 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $0.00 ($300 million cut), 100% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: Trump is proposing eliminating the US Forest Service's Experimental Forests and Ranges.

8) US Forest Service - State, Private, and Tribal Forestry

FY25 Funding Amount: $283 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $0.00 ($283 million cut), 100% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: Trump wants to completely eliminate US Forest Service's State, Private, Tribal Forestry.

9) US Forest Service - National Forest System

FY25 Funding Amount: $1.863 billion
FY26 Trump Proposal: $1.296 billion ($567 million cut), 30% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: Once again, this is an already underfunded agency tasked with managing a large area of land (193 million acres, more than 2 x the size of our National Parks).

10) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) - Conservation Operations

FY25 Funding Amount: $896 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $112 million ($784 million cut), 87% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill: $850 million ($46 million cut), 5% decrease.
FY26 Senate Draft Bill: $896 million, 0% decrease.
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: The House and Senate Committees on Agriculture have rejected Trump's extreme cuts for NRCS.

11) NOAA - Total Agency

* I can't find FY2025 funding data for NOAA, only 2024 data. I will update when I find it.

FY24 Funding Amount: $6.336 billion*
FY26 Trump Proposal: $4.513 billion ($1.823 billion cut), 28.77% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill: $5.795 billion ($601 million cut), 8.54 %decrease.
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: The House draft bill makes significant cuts to NOAA. But it rejects the extreme cuts that would be needed to eliminate the programs listed below.

12) NOAA - Oceanic And Atmospheric Research (OAR)

FY24 Funding Amount: $738 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $0.00 ($738 million cut), 100% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: Trump is proposing to completely eliminate a massive, wide ranging research wing of our government. NOAA Research and its 880 employers (as of 2024) make up our nation's leading research centers on climate, weather, oceans, and lakes.

13) NOAA - National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

FY24 Funding Amount: $1.219 billion
FY26 Trump Proposal: $789 million ($429 million cut), 35% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: NMFS (NOAA Fisheries) is another division of NOAA facing major cuts. Several offices get hit particularly hard. I feature two below.

14) NOAA - Protected Resources Science and Management

FY24 Funding Amount: $264 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $115 million ($149 million cut), 56% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: This falls under (13) NMFS. The Office of Protected Resources is responsible for the protection and recovery of more than 150 endangered and threatened marine species under the Endangered Species Act.

15) NOAA - Habitat Conservation and Restoration

FY24 Funding Amount: $56 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $0.00 ($56 million cut), 100% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: This falls under (13) NMFS. I've broken it out because the Office of Habitat Conservation and its 192 employees (as of 2024) face elimination unless Congress rejects Trump's cuts.

16) NOAA - Ocean and Coastal Management and Services

FY24 Funding Amount: $296 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $112 million ($184 million cut), 62% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill:
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: This section of the NOAA budget includes multiple divisions facing steep cuts: a) National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR); b) Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas; c) Coral Reef Conservation, and others. Of particular note, NERR is facing elimination unless Congress rejects Trump's cuts.

17) NOAA - Pacific Salmon Recovery Fund

FY24 Funding Amount: $65 million
FY26 Trump Proposal: $0.00 ($65 million cut), 100% decrease.
FY26 House Draft Bill: $65 million, 0% decrease.
FY26 Senate Draft Bill:
FY26 Final Spending Bill:

Discussion: The House draft bill rejects Trump's cuts to the Pacific Salmon Recovery Fund and maintains funding at prior levels.