Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) is fighting for NASA’s budget—but she’s also worried agency layoffs (via deferred resignations) will leave NASA too short-staffed to execute if she wins.
“I haven’t even spoken to Acting Administrator Sean Duffy,” she said. “I don’t know when a new [permanent] administrator will potentially be confirmed. There are a lot of unknowns, so absolutely we are so nervous.”
Nearly 4,000 NASA employees have opted to leave the agency under the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program. That will leave approximately 14,000 civil servants, according to a NASA spokesperson. This leaves the agency trying to return to the Moon and send people to Mars with a workforce much smaller than the days of Apollo.
The congresswoman, who became the ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies in January, also talked with Payload about the need for a confirmed leader at NASA, the fight for a more robust science budget, and maintaining US leadership in space.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
What is your reaction to the proposed NASA budget cuts?
The House bill is not as bad as the president’s budget proposal. The president’s cuts were really shocking. They were the largest cuts in American history. I appreciate our chairman’s efforts to reduce the damage, but I am still concerned about cuts that take away from investments in STEM research. I want to make sure we’re not doing anything to weaken American leadership in space.
Are you worried about NASA employees being let go before a budget is approved?
Absolutely, we are. We should not be in a position where we are taking away money from science and STEM research. We haven’t seen actual numbers from NASA yet. I haven’t even spoken to Acting Administrator Sean Duffy. I don’t know when a new administrator will potentially be confirmed. There are a lot of unknowns, so absolutely we are so nervous.
What are you hearing from colleagues?
People behind the scenes, on both sides of the aisle, are very much in a similar place. When you talk to Republican members, they have a lot of the same concerns. We all want to root out so-called “government waste”, but we can all see this budget makes America look weaker in terms of being a global leader in science and technology.
Does NASA need a confirmed administrator?
I don’t think that there is as much of a sense of urgency as there should be. Acting Administrator Duffy is running two large agencies. Just because they both have to deal with vehicles that move, doesn’t mean that it should be run by the same person. I’m also not sure just because someone is qualified to lead the Department of Transportation, that he should also be the one to lead missions to space. I was a little confused at that, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
I’m just not seeing a very strong or clear vision from this administration on space exploration. I would love to see what Acting Administrator Duffy can put forward, with a little bit more detail. We need someone at NASA to lead with a vision—on increasing the STEM pipeline in this country, and continuing to be a global leader in space exploration—and not just someone who is recklessly cutting.
How did you become interested in space?
I’ve learned so much in my years just by being on the committee. I think a lot of people just think of NASA as funding and operating missions to space. They don’t realize the tremendous impact it has in schools across the country, from elementary to college and beyond.
We just had an event last week with astronaut Jonny Kim, who literally called our kids from space. It’s not just a one-off experience, but these investments and these experiences complement each other when they can have well-funded programs in our schools. Both parties like to talk about putting America first, and making sure America is a leader, but we need to put our money behind our words. The best way to do that is support and fund things like NASA.
