NASA began to implement its reduction in force (RIF), to close three offices and to link staff in accordance with the decrees of the new administration that target the federal workforce.
NASA announced on Monday that it would close the office of technology, politics and strategy; the office of the chief scientist; and the branch of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) of the diversity, equity and inclusion office. Twenty-three employees will be affected by the cuts, according to SPACEPOLICYONLINE.com.
The recent labor reductions are in response to an executive decree to put an end to the “programs and preferences of the government of the radical and useless government” and another to implement the initiative to optimize the efficiency of the Ministry of Efficiency (DOGE).
“Although this will mean difficult adjustments, we consider this as an opportunity to reshape our workforce, by ensuring that we do what is legally required of us, while providing American citizens an effective and effective agency,” wrote Janet Petro, acting in NASA, in a letter To staff, according to NASA Watch, an independent blog not affiliated with the space agency.
The NASA Policy, Policy and Policy Office “brings together various and multidisciplinary experts to provide NASA leadership leadership, strategic and decision -making information in the form of analyzes, memos and analytical reports”, according to its website. The office of the chief scientist is the main advisor of the NASA administrator on the agency’s scientific programs and “represents all the scientific efforts of the agency, ensuring that they are aligned and achieve the scientific objectives of the administration”, the NASA website reading.
Shortly after the inauguration of Donald Trump in January, NASA moved to close the offices linked to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) to the Agency and the cancellation of related contracts. It was in response to Trump’s executive decree to end federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles.
Recent layoffs, on the other hand, are part of administration efforts to reduce government employees and bureaucracy, while improving efficiency as part of the DOGE initiative led by Elon Musk. NASA is not the only federal agency forced to reduce its workforce to the light of Trump’s recent orders. The American meteorological agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is expected to fire approximately 20% of his workforce.
The latest labor reductions are part of a worrying sign that NASA could risk losing a large part of its scientific activities under the current administration, which seems to promote private space flights, as shown in the choice of Trump waiting for the commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead the agency. The leader of Doge Musk also expressed his dismay at the bureaucracy of national space programs, putting pressure on a more aggressive approach that dismantles federal agencies. And as indicated by these cups on the imminent NOAAs, the current administration does not care about annoying truths such as climate change – an area where NASA plays a crucial research role. This first cycle of cuts is only the beginning of what is probably an exceptionally painful era of the history of NASA.
