 NASA supporters attend the "NASA Needs Help!" protest June 30th at NASA HQ. It seems that every time we gather for a town hall there's more bad news. Every branch meeting is a lot more "we don't know" than answers to our questions. My inbox had at least one "I took retirement/DRP" email in it every day last week. There's a lot to be stressed about, a lot to feel justifiably sad and angry about these days. I want to emphasize, though, that the union is in it with you for the long haul. Beyond the horizon of policies we can only guess at, GESTA and their parent union, IFPTE, will continue to lawyer up, show up, and do what they can in the situation at hand. Sometimes that can be invisible to the general workforce, so I wanted to emphasize some wins recently.
Recently, we have heard of some confusion about whether term employees (i.e. temporary employees with terms greater than 1 year) could possibly be terminated before their term end dates without a formal Reduction in Force (RIF) process. Below is a summary of GESTA's current understanding of the law surrounding term employees. However we encourage individuals to consult a federal labor lawyer for any legal advice.
Term employees who are past their probationary/trial periods cannot be terminated for reasons unrelated to their job performance or conduct before their term end date without the agency performing a formal RIF process. However, terms still in their probationary period (within 1 year of hiring for those in the competitive service and within 2 years of hiring for those who are in the excepted service and without veteran’s preference) can be terminated prior to their term end date for performance/conduct but also suitability reasons without a formal RIF process – see our prior post on the new regulations for Probationary Employees. Employees can check in Box 34 of their SF-50 to locate their status as either a competitive or an excepted service employee. In addition, in the case of their termination, both non-probationary and probationary term employees must be given sufficient notice, and the terminations must not violate any civil rights or whistleblower protections. In the case of their termination, both non-probationary and probationary term employees also have appeal rights, though probationary employee’s appeal rights are more limited. If any term employees do find themselves facing termination prior to their term end date and prior to formal RIF procedures being implemented by NASA, we encourage you to reach out right away to GESTA to understand your options. For more details you can also see section 5 of NSREF-3000-0972_NASA Time-Limited Employment Desk Guide (internal) On June 24, 2025 changes to the regulations guiding probationary employees and termination\separation conditions were published in the Federal Registrar (90 FR 26727). With these changes two prior Federal Regulations (eCFRs) (315.804 & 315.805) governing probationary period terminations were rescinded. Before June 24th, as described in an email GESTA sent to our members on February 16th under these now rescinded eCFRs (315.804 & 315.805): “management may [only] terminate a probationer for unsatisfactory performance or conduct or for ‘conditions arising before appointment’" and transitioning from probationary status occured one or two years post employment and “does not depend on any paperwork being filed or processed.” Under the June 24th amended regulations this is no longer entirely the case.
Under the new regulations eCFR Title 5, Chapter I, Subchapter A § 11.5 termination under probationary status can be justified by unsatisfactory performance but also if the agency determines the person’s employment is no longer “in the public interest”. In addition, continued employment after the 1 year or 2 year (for excepted service employees who do not have veterans preference) trial period is no longer automatically granted. Instead the agency must “certify” the employee’s continued employment 30-days prior to the probationary period end date. If this certification does not happen the employee is automatically separated from service. This new regulation does not apply to “an employee serving a probationary period due to being promoted, transferred, or otherwise assigned, for the first time, to a supervisory or managerial position.” Though the recent reconciliation bill included some funding for specific NASA programs, NASA’s FY26 budget has not yet been decided by Congress. This means there is still hope to save NASA and our Goddard workforce from the destructive cuts in the President’s FY26 budget request (PBR).
Congressional Appropriation committees in the Senate and House are currently developing and voting on the first versions of NASA’s FY26 budget [1, 2]. Initial news from the Senate’s Appropriation committee hearing on July 10th indicated a strong majority of bipartisan committee support to keep NASA and NASA science funding flat at FY24 levels [3, 4]. The draft House Appropriations committee budget released on July 14th also called for a flat NASA budget though included a 18% (compared to 47% in the PBR) cut to NASA science [5]. Given the still strong bipartisan support for NASA and NASA Science in Congress, and the evidence our advocacy efforts are working, now more than ever is the time to continue to make our voices heard! Please take a moment (while off duty and on a personal device) to call or email one or more of the Senate or House Appropriation committee members. Ask them to save NASA and NASA Science! Below is a link to the list of committee members and links to their official websites where you can find office phone numbers and other contact methods: Senate Appropriations Committee members House Appropriations Committee members You can reference talking points from GESTA’s prior statement on the President’ budget proposal. Or reference talking points or scripts generated by the Planetary Society here. Please also share this action with allies who may live in any of the appropriation committee’s states or districts! We’d like to give you some updates on the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) here at Goddard. We’ve heard back on what exactly the July 25th deadline means. July 25th at 11:59 p.m. ET is the last date/time to apply/opt in for DRP, VERA, and VSIP. Guidance from HR is that “For those that wait to apply at the last minute, we will work quickly to get them approved and then they must have their agreements signed by July 29.” We would still recommend giving them a day or two in case there is a last second rush. Our last update on the number of Goddard civil servants who have joined the program via the 'Message and Updates from the Center Director' from June 17th is 447 people having signed up.
The OCHCO website states that one of the benefits of the DRP program is exemption from the in-office mandate, and the contract itself says, “Employee shall ….. be exempt from any return-to-office requirements.” However, we have been informed that the Director of Code 500, Segrid Harris, has told supervisors and employees that she will not sign any timesheets that have telework listed on them from employees in the DRP. When we questioned Goddard Management about this, we were told this was not their understanding. According to Management, work schedules should be worked out between employees and supervisors, tailored to what works best for both. This would imply that the exemption on return-to-office is in place if you have been approved for the DRP, despite what we had heard previously from Code 500, and there is no requirement for you to come into the office. The latest you would be allowed to take administrative leave is August 15th, unless you can make the argument that you are in a critical position. This is a high bar, it has to be signed off on by the Directorate head, the Center Director, and all the way up to the NASA Administrator level. The bottom line is opting in / signing up must be done by July 25th, signed off by July 29th, administrative leave must be taken (except in rare cases) by August 15th – the exact date decided in coordination with your supervisor and resignation or retirement must be taken by January 9, 2026 at the latest. By the administrative leave date all equipment, travel cards, P-cards, and government sponsored passports must be turned in. While on DRP, salary, benefits, etc. will be as normal, even when one is on administrative leave, until your resignation or retirement. Also, it is up to the individual to go through the retirement process, it does not happen automatically on the retirement date that was chosen. I am following in GESTA Area Vice President, Dave William’s footsteps and using popular culture as a starting point for an important discussion. In his case, he wrote about a coach leveling with his team that he was going to leave for a new job, and suggesting that Goddard management would do well to emulate his example. In my case, I will use the Clash song “Know Your Rights” as a motivation for sharing information about your rights as a GESTA bargaining unit employee. The song is “a public service announcement, with guitars”, commenting on life in Thatcher’s UK, but it resonates with me here and now. Knowing your rights under Federal law and GESTA’s agreements with Goddard is important to all of us right now. This is the first in a series of articles covering these rights.
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