More than 200 NASA employees sign letter opposing Trump budget cuts: Here's what it said

Yahoo

24-07-2025

More than 200 current and former NASA employees have signed an open letter known as the Voyager Declaration that is pushing back on "harmful" proposed cuts to the world's largest space agency.
The letter, which was made public Monday, July 21, was released at a time that NASA faces a historically steep budget reduction and has grappled with widespread layoffs and resignations.
President Donald Trump in May put forth a proposed budget for the next fiscal year that would slash $6 billion from NASA's budget – equivalent to nearly a 25% cut.
At the same time, the U.S. space agency has found itself without a full-time administrator since Bill Nelson stepped down Jan. 20, the day of Trump's inauguration. Trump appointed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as NASA's interim administrator earlier in July.
Here's what to know about the letter NASA workers signed, as well as the agency's response.
NASA budget cuts: Here's a look at 6 space missions that could be axed under Trump's proposal
Workers sign letter opposing NASA budget cuts: 'Catastrophic'
The letter, addressed to Duffy, included 287 signatures from both public and anonymous current and former NASA employees.
Released on the day after Moon Day – an unofficial celebration of the 56th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing – the letter comes at a turbulent moment for NASA. Facing the agency is a potentially looming budget cut from $24.8 billion to $18.8 billion, which includes a substantial hit to a significant portion of the agency's science missions and activities.
"The last six months have seen rapid and wasteful changes which have undermined our mission and caused catastrophic impacts on NASA's workforce," the letter argued, pointing to "arbitrary" funding cuts that undermine programs that Congress had elected to fund.
Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Stand Up for Science collected signatures for the letter.
"Dismantling this American institution is a travesty," Colette Delawalla, founder and executive director of Stand Up for Science, said in a statement. "No one voted to willfully give our global dominance in science to other nations in exchange for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy."
What is the NASA letter opposing?
The letter specifically opposes budget cuts and management decisions that Stand Up for Science claims "interfere with the agency's mission."
That includes:
Changes to NASA's Technical Authority, a process that is a part of the agency's system of checks and balances to provide independent oversight of programs and projects to ensure safety and mission success
Canceling active science missions or missions still in development that have Congressional funding
"Indiscriminate cuts" to NASA science and aeronautics research
Termination of NASA contracts and grants for reasons unrelated to performance
Staffing reductions that would "jeopardize NASA's core mission"
Is NASA based in Florida? What is Kennedy Space Center?
While NASA's official headquarters is in D.C., most of the agency's space program has operations in Florida's Cape Canaveral area.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has also been vocal about his desire for NASA to move its headquarters to the Sunshine State, specifically the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral.
Located on the east coast of Florida on Merritt Island in Brevard County, the Kennedy Space Center is NASA's primary spaceport where a majority of the space agency's missions get off the ground.
The center manages the launches of both crewed and uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station and partners with commercial companies like SpaceX, which conduct their own rocket launches at the site. Most of the launches take place from the historic Launch Complex 39A – the site of NASA's Apollo moon mission launches.
How did NASA respond to Voyager Declaration?
In a statement to FLORIDA TODAY, NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said the agency will never compromise on safety, and "any reductions – including our current voluntary reduction – will be designed to protect safety-critical roles."
"We must revisit what's working and what's not so that we can inspire the American people again and win the space race," Stevens said. "Despite the claims posted on a website that advances radical, discriminatory DEI principles, the reality is that President Trump has proposed billions of dollars for NASA science, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to communicating our scientific achievements."
What other space orgs are speaking out against Trump's NASA policy?
Among the most vocal opponents to Trump's proposed budget cuts has been the Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Carl Sagan in 1980 whose chief executive is now Bill Nye.
The organization has widely condemned the White House's proposed 47% cuts to NASA science activities under the budget proposal, which it views as "an extinction-level event" for many cornerstone missions.
"It will damage the agency's highly skilled workforce, abandon national priorities, and gut STEM education and outreach," the Planetary Society said in a May 30 statement when Trump's full proposal was made public.
Earlier in July, the organization shared an open letter signed by all seven living former heads of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. In the letter, the leaders warned that Trump's proposal would 'walk away from dozens of current, extraordinarily successful and productive science missions' and halt nearly all future investments in exploration and innovation.
Congress advances bill to restore NASA funding
Meanwhile in Congress, U.S. Senate and House members approved appropriations bills that would rebuff proposed cuts and maintain NASA's annual budget at $24.9 billion.
The Planetary Society lauded Congress in a statement for resisting "unprecedented, unstrategic, and wasteful cuts" at NASA.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA workers sign letter opposing Trump budget cuts: 'Catastrophic'
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