Someone is going to have to explain to me how it is that there is a requirement for reductions in government agencies like the FAA (Especially the FAA) and NASA. If they insist on reducing “the deep state” then it should only be those agencies that comprise various departments that implement real policy, State, Agriculture, Education, and Justice, as just a few (And, really, the biggest fish by far is Defense, but it’s not like Republicans ever want to cut anything in DoD). But the layoffs continue apace and now they enter NASA. One has to wonder whether this is a major DOGE target for the simple reason that crippling NASA is a great way to move even more work over to Space X – privatizing the profit, socializing losses into taxes is the way to run a government for the wealthy, which is certainly what this administration intends to do.
The announcement was met with serious anger as found on X and reported even on Grok.
BREAKING: DOGE Staffers Onsite at NASA, Large “Reduction In Force” To Include Astronauts
Elon Musk’s DOGE has begun sending termination emails to thousands of NASA employees, including nearly all astronauts who have been deemed “redundant.”
The layoffs include astronauts Suni… pic.twitter.com/ql68lNcZRR
— GOP Jesus (@GOPJesusUSA) February 16, 2025
Multiple NASA centers will be announcing probationary employee “terminations” on Tuesday as well. A quick look at the news will show that this is happening across the entire Federal government.
Imagine being there, having done nothing wrong, just up against a political movement in which people were mostly mad about egg prices and misogyny.
NASA employees are preparing for the beginning of terminations today.
Exchanging personal contact info, downloading important personal HR documents, etc
Very somber.
— Mason Hall (@space_mace) February 18, 2025
Very somber, indeed. What did these people do to come into the crosshairs? Is DOGE maintaining that nearly every department was bloated with extra personnel? And why don’t they have to show that their layoffs will not impact critical functions? The other thing that I cannot for the life of me figure out is how it is that this can be done without congressional approval. When Congress appropriates money, it must be spent on that purpose. There is no discretion afforded the executive, only in rules and policy, not money for programs. So if Congress appropriated money for these salaries, how is it that DOGE can fire them? I think this will be the subject of a massive lawsuit soon enough. It would seem to me that at the very least, the government would be on the hook for paying these people’s salaries, even if they aren’t coming to work.
There is another problem at work here. I may be the only one around here pounding on the threat from China (You want to see human rights violations? This government commits crimes against humanity on a daily basis) and this is the wrong moment to be losing ground to China in the next frontier, space. On that, Congressional leaders are rightly speaking out. From Grok:
Democratic Criticism: Democrats have been vocal in their criticism, with figures like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decrying the move as short-sighted and detrimental to America’s scientific leadership. They argue that cutting NASA’s workforce hampers the nation’s space program at a time when international competition, particularly with China, is intensifying.
Damned right. This administration might want to be a bit more careful. It is really easy to demonize federal workers at DOJ or the IRS. It is infinitely harder to fire critical air traffic controllers (Public safety) and beloved astronauts and scientists at NASA. They might get a bit ahead of themselves on this runner’s high they’re on.
Pretty amazing that they even want to do this.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter-X at @JasonMiciak and please follow me now on Bluesky
As a related item, have they considered cancelling the contracts for SpaceX & Tesla vehicles, since they’re cutting/cancelling contracts in every human need field?
So Sunni Williams is fired? While she’s up on the space station when she COULD have been home months ago? Yes, there were thruster issues with the Boeing spacecraft she and her partner took up as the first crewed mission. Boeing and NASA took plenty of time to assess things, and made sure to allow enough fuel for those crucial thrusters to bring the spacecraft back home okay. Yet it kept getting dragged out and eventually “NASA” decided not to “risk” a crewed re-entry. That meant at some point the Boeing crew would have to return on one of Musk’s spacecraft! Don’t tell me for ONE SECOND that Musk wasn’t furiously lobbying behind the scenes that the Boeing craft was “unsafe” and would probably lose control during re-entry. Boeing and NASA had indicated at one point things looked good to go and the astronauts themselves were fine with coming back down in it but they are still up in space.
And now, in an unforgiving environment and with a full schedule of tasks to perform Williams gets fired! There was already a push to move up a launch date to get her and her partner back earlier than planned – no doubt because NASA was gearing up for it’s push to eliminate mentions of women’s contributions to the space program due to the whole anti DEI bullshit. If I were a female working for Space X I’d be looking for other work and fast.
It takes years of training just to qualify for the astronaut program. Years of commitment and then IF accepted years more before being assigned an actual mission. Millions of dollars and years of work go into becoming an astronaut (a REAL one – not the tourists who pay small fortunes for those sub-orbital joyrides that provide fifteen minutes or less in space) and poof – Elon Musk says you are worthless and you’re GONE.
If only the board of Tesla would fire HIM!