The space community worried on Tuesday that reported significant cuts to NASA’s workforce would hamper the agency’s ability to pursue its most daring missions.
Ars Technica reported that ~750 NASA employees took the buy out offered by the Trump administration, and that field center directors were told to prepare for even deeper cuts there. The publication later reported that NASA had been spared the layoffs of probationary employees that are targeting the rest of the federal government in a “last-minute” decision, saving 1,000+ jobs at the space agency—at least for now.
What’s next: It’s unclear if this is just a delay for cuts that will eventually impact the agency, since NASA has yet to address the reports publicly. Still, it seems that DOGE’s blunt focus on efficiency is unlikely to spare NASA entirely.
The blowback: The Planetary Society said it “strongly opposes” making “indiscriminate” cuts to NASA’s workforce as has happened at other agencies, instead arguing that any reductions should be targeted towards helping the agency more efficiently and effectively reaching its mission.
“These public servants—many of whom are just starting their careers—represent the future of NASA,” the statement says. “Their removal does not reflect their abilities or commitment to advancing US interests in space, only that they chose to join the nation’s space agency within the past year.”
Zoom out: Other agencies are already seeing proposed cuts come to fruition under the Trump administration, whose efforts to remove bureaucracy and shrink the size of the federal government have been led by the Department of Government Efficiency, headed up by Elon Musk.
About 75,000 employees across the government accepted a buyout offer, handing in their letters of resignation last week. But not all of the cuts have been voluntary—the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced it planned to cut its staff in half and the National Science Foundation laid off 11% of its workforce.
