ROUNDUP: Cantwell Announces New Funding & Averts Devastating Cuts to Science, Weather Research, & Other Priorities

The second FY2026 minibus appropriations bill serves as a bipartisan rebuke of President Trump's attempted cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Finance Committee, delivered a speech on the Senate floor highlighting how the second FY 2026 minibus appropriations bill passed yesterday serves as a bipartisan rebuke of President Donald Trump's attempted cuts to the United States' science agencies - namely NOAA, NASA, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Video of Sen. Cantwell's speech is HERE; a full transcript of her speech is HERE.

Sen. Cantwell also announced that the minibus bill includes new funding for key priorities related to science, weather research, salmon, wildfires, and more. Further information and full releases are available below.

1. U.S. Science Leadership Survives Existential Threat From Trump Budget as Cantwell Rallies Colleagues to Reject Gutting NASA, NSF, & NIST
   • President Trump's FY2026 budget would have cut billions from NASA's budget. Under the FY 2026 appropriations bill passed yesterday, the agency will receive $24.44 billion, only slightly less than last year's budget of $24.88 billion. Read the full release HERE.

1. Cantwell Defends America's Extreme Weather & Natural Disaster Preparedness Programs From Sweeping Cuts
   • Sen. Cantwell joined senators to roundly reject President Donald Trump's proposed FY2026 budget cuts which would have gutted NOAA's budget by $1.7 billion, slashed USGS Natural Hazards Programs which help communities prepare for natural disasters, and eliminated funding that supports volunteer wildland firefighters. Read the full release HERE.

1. Cantwell Applauds Funding for Critical Buoy and Technology Program that Trump Proposed to Eliminate
   • President Trump's FY2026 budget request would have eliminated the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Instead, thanks to Sen. Cantwell's advocacy, the bipartisan second FY 2026 minibus appropriations bill passed yesterday mandates a much-needed increase of the program's budget by $5 million to $47.5 million, an 11.8% increase from FY25 enacted levels. Read the full release HERE.

1. Cantwell Secures $22M in LWCF Funds to Add More Public Land to Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
   • The bill includes funding for a $17 million land purchase and a $5 million land purchase, both of privately-owned parcels near Leavenworth in the Upper Wenatchee River watershed, for a total of over 11,000 acres to be managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Read the full release HERE.

1. Cantwell Secures $7M For 5 Projects Dedicated to Science Research Facilities & Equipment at WA Universities
   • In total, Sen. Cantwell helped secure $7,062,000 to equip scientific research facilities at four of our state's universities: the University of Washington, Washington State University, Western Washington University, and Gonzaga University. Read the full release HERE.

1. 21 WA Communities to Modernize Water Systems Thanks to Federal Dollars Secured by Cantwell
   • In total, Sen. Cantwell helped secure $22,468,965 for water and wastewater infrastructure in communities all across the State of Washington. Read the full release HERE.

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