The vast majority of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder are out of work or working without pay due to the federal government shutdown that began on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson from U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse’s office.
Neguse visited NOAA in Boulder on Wednesday morning where he met with federal workers who have been furloughed or are working without pay. A furlough is a required and temporary unpaid leave of absence from work. Neguse learned during his visit that many NOAA staffers were furloughed, and while some people are still employed on mission-critical projects, the vast majority of NOAA staff and researchers in Boulder are out of work, the spokesperson told the Daily Camera.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and National Weather Service employees are the ones who are working without pay, the spokesperson said. Most of the research at NOAA labs has stopped. The exact number of furloughed workers remains unclear.
“I was grateful for the opportunity to thank the incredible Federal workers at NOAA this morning for their steadfast service — and I hope everyone in our community will join in thanking and supporting the countless Federal civil servants across Colorado whom are being unfairly and severely impacted by the government shutdown Republicans have initiated,” Neguse said in a statement on Wednesday.
Boulder is home to about 17 federally funded labs, and according to 2024 research done by the Boulder Chamber’s Economic Council, the labs employ nearly 3,600 people throughout Boulder County.
The U.S. Department of Commerce released a list of services that will be affected during the government shutdown, noting that most research activities at the National Institute of Standards and Technology as well as NOAA will stop. Boulder’s NOAA website says the webpage will not be updated and that NOAA “websites and social media channels necessary to protect lives and property will be maintained.”
Weather forecasting, weather warnings and climate predictions will continue, according to the Department of Commerce, in addition to other services related to national security and public safety.
Officials at NOAA and NIST and the did not immediately respond to questions on Wednesday. The Daily Camera received multiple automatic email responses noting that responses to all emails would be delayed or stopped due to the government shutdown.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder is operating as usual, with staff continuing to receive paychecks, according to Media Relations Manager David Hosansky.
“Even though most of our funding comes from the federal government (and NSF NCAR is a federally funded research and development center), we’re not federal employees,” Hosansky wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. ” … While new grants won’t be awarded for the duration of the shutdown, and it’s possible we could receive stop-work orders for some projects funded outside of our NSF base funds, we don’t anticipate substantial interruptions to our operations or research.”
The Boulder Chamber is looking to partner with Workforce Boulder County and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to identify issues and areas for support around the shutdown. While many federal workers are dealing with not working and earning pay, it also impacts partner institutions, Boulder Chamber President and CEO John Tayer said. The University of Colorado Boulder and private Boulder companies, for example, depend on relationships with the federal government to operate. For the people out of work, it also impacts their spending decisions and investments.
“It’s tremendously disruptive,” Tayer said. “We have to anticipate that there will be a resolution and the parties in Washington will come together around an agreement to open up the government operations, so that’s the anticipation. But if we should see a long-term delay in that resolution, then we can be sure that there will be businesses that will have to shut their doors.”
CU Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a research institute that studies the environment, has a cooperative agreement where CU Boulder researchers work side-by-side with NOAA researchers in NOAA labs in Boulder to study the environment. CIRES employs about 900 people, about 350 of whom work at NOAA as part of the cooperative agreement.
CU Boulder spokesperson Nicole Mueksch said the university is still evaluating the potential impacts of the government shutdown, including any impact on CIRES.
“We are tracking this issue closely and preparing contingency plans to mitigate potential impacts, which range from the operations of federal labs we partner with to student financial aid,” Mueksch wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. “…We will communicate regular updates regarding the shutdown and its effects on CU Boulder. Pre-shutdown actions with principal investigators have already been communicated and other relevant notifications will be sent in coordination with campus communicators at schools, colleges and institutes. Still, we remain hopeful Congress will reach an agreement before we experience significant impacts.”
Neguse encourages anyone affected by the government shutdown to contact his Boulder office at 303-335-1045, which will remain open during the shutdown.