June 15, 2026

Lawmakers Intensify Efforts to Halt Ocean Monitoring Cuts Amid Legal Concerns

Senators Jeff Merkley and Lisa Murkowski are leading a renewed bipartisan effort urging the National Science Foundation to reverse its decision to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, which has tracked critical ocean data for over a decade.
House Democrats have accused the NSF of acting illegally by failing to notify Congress about the decommissioning, as required by federal law, and are demanding an immediate halt to the dismantling process.
The dismantling is set to begin imminently, with the first buoy scheduled for removal off the Oregon coast, raising concerns about the impact on extreme weather tracking and coastal safety, particularly with the approaching El Niño.