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GESTA membership recently passed a resolution to condemn the killing of Alex Pretti, a fellow federal employee and federal union member, by federal immigration agents. You can read the GESTA resolution text here. As noted, copies of this resolution are in the process of being sent to the international leadership of IFPTE, members of Congress representing GESTA districts, other stakeholders, and the press
The Trump administration and the Office of Personal Management (OPM) have proposed new regulations that would limit the ability for NASA and other federal workers to obtain high performance ratings. A Government Executive article covers these proposed regulation changes which would require a forced distribution on employees ratings. The article describes the numerous issues with such a change noting that “agency representatives across government… nearly universally panned it in internal discussions, warning that its adoption would decrease employee performance and abandon merit systems principles.” The proposed changes are now out for public comments with public comments due by March 26th. A strategy for these comments is to raise multiple unique concerns that will require a response. We encourage you to submit a comment here by clicking the green ‘Submit an Public Comment’ at the top of the page. For guidance on what makes a good comment on proposed rule changes, you can see this document (relevant advice starting on page 2) from the Federal Union Network.
On January 14th GESTA members and allies, as well as IFPTE leadership, rallied on Capitol Hill with other federal union members in support of the The Protect American Workforce Act (PAWA).
Freedom of speech is a fundamental right we all still retain as federal employees. This freedom under the 1st amendment protects our ability to speak freely to the public while in our capacities as private citizens on matters that are of public concern (including sharing non-controlled information on matters of public concern which we have access to due to our unique roles as federal employees) when it does not interfere with, and is not a part of our ordinary job duties (see: 1 & 2). Whistleblower protection laws also further protect federal employees from retaliation for public disclosures of certain types of whistleblower information. Recently a federal union president, Ellen Mei, of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) representing employees at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) was given notice she would be fired in retaliation for a press interview she did warning the public about the government shutdown’s impacts to SNAP benefits. GESTA leadership has signed on to the petition protesting her firing for this protected speech, and you can also add your name to this petition, which has been organized by the Federal Union Network, at this link.
 During Acting Center Director Cynthia Simmons’ and NASA Associate Administrator of Science Mission Directorate, Nicola “Nicky” Fox’s, Goddard wide Welcome Back and Community Briefing on November 19th, GESTA leadership handed out information outside the auditorium. Although not organized by GESTA, some GESTA members and other employees also printed signs for employees to pick up and hold during the town hall to remind our leadership and stand in solidarity with other employees in recognizing NASA’s mission. Ultimately, security guards prohibited employees from distributing and bringing the signs into the auditorium. Samples of the printed signs are shown above. They are taken from the NASA mission statement. Some employees and members have now posted them on their office doors. Leftover posters are available in the middle stairwell of Building 34 if you would like to grab one.
On December 16th Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced the Administration would be dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. This institute is a critical asset to our nation and world providing support for weather and climate data and modeling. NCAR is also a critical partner to NASA, including our members and employees at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has an action webpage where you can send a letter to your representative asking them to stand up for NCAR in upcoming appropriation bills: https://agu.quorum.us/campaign/151565/
Take action by reaching out to your Congressional leaders to encourage them to pass a bipartisan government funding bill which ends the current shutdown, while protecting Congress’s constitutional powers to set agency funding levels. As IFPTE notes on their action page: “a bipartisan CR needs to include legislative language protecting congressionally approved funding levels from being withheld by the Administration and prevent a unilateral implementation of the President’s budget contrary to Congressional intent. The Administration has already used unprecedented tactics such as "pocket rescissions" to withhold funds until they expire, effectively nullifying bipartisan funding agreements. Without legislative safeguards, any 2026 funding deal risks being ignored or overturned, which completely undermines the Constitutional authority of Congress to set and approve spending levels.”
You can send a letter directly via IFPTE’s action page: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-stop-the-shutdown-get-back-to-work-and-pass-a-bipartisan-funding-bill?source=direct_link&  On September 15, 2025, the NASA Needs Help group organized its third protest outside of NASA HQ. GESTA and IFPTE members attended the event, and Representative Suhas Subramanyam of VA addressed the crowd, as well as speakers from Stand Up For Science, GESTA, IFPTE, National Institute of Health, and the Planetary Society. Videos of the speakers are available on Instagram, @nasaneedshelp.
The event was covered by NBC Washington, Space.com, Government Executive, NASA Watch, Federal News Network, WUSA9, JWEasyTech, Ground News, DC Media Group, The Manila Times, and more! More photos from the event are below. |
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