The United States government is reportedly planning to lay off more than 2,145 senior NASA employees, as the administration seeks to cut NASA’s funding by 25%.
These employees are in GS-13 to GS-15 positions, covering specialised skills and management, according to Politico. The vast majority are working in core mission sectors like space flight and scientific research, and these layoffs will affect staff at all of NASA’s 10 regional centres.
Seven former heads of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate sent a letter to Congress last week in protest of potential NASA funding cuts. “The economics of these proposed cuts ignore a fundamental truth: investments in NASA science have been and are a powerful driver of the U.S. economy and technological leadership,” they wrote.
Under the White House’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, NASA’s science activities would be cut by 47%. Its total funding would be slashed by 25%, and more than 5,000 staff would be dismissed.
These are the largest NASA cuts ever proposed, and would leave the agency with its smallest budget since 1961. This would likely heavily impact NASA’s Artemis moon exploration program, which has a crewed lunar flyby mission scheduled for 2026.
The U.S. Senate is also set to vote on a bipartisan bill that reverses these funding cuts. While this initial vote passed the Senate appropriations committee, it will be submitted for another committee vote after a dispute over the location of the FBI’s new headquarters site.
“The bill funds NASA at $24.9 billion, slightly above [fiscal year 2025 levels] to explore the solar system to advance our understanding of climate change, promote innovation and sustainability in aeronautics," said Maryland Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen.
NASA does not currently have a confirmed administrator. U.S. President Donald Trump said today that he would appoint Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy as interim head of NASA.
Trump had originally nominated Elon Musk's ally Jared Isaacman, founder of payment processor Shift4 and flight training company Draken International, to lead NASA. However, Trump withdrew the nomination in May amid his feud with Musk, and has not chosen a new nominee.
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