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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. GESTA works directly with Congressional appropriators to advocate for NASA and the NASA workforce on a regular basis. Earlier this spring, GESTA President Trysh Moton and GESTA Executive Vice President, Steve Hard collected a list of impacts due to potential cuts or cancellations to Goddard science programs from Goddard employees. With the help of Legislative Director Faraz Khan of IFPTE, this effort helped shape the Senate and House Appropriations Committee’s language for the 2026 Appropriations Bill. Over the last month IFPTE also worked with Senator Chris Van Hollen’s staff to provide input on a letter that Senator Van Hollen sent to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding impoundment.
Last week, our parent union IFPTE also arranged for several active GESTA members to meet with the Senate Commerce Democrats’ oversight team. The purpose of these interviews was to collect information directly from Goddard employees on their experiences and the impacts to programs and/or the workforce due to the loss of personnel since the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) has been implemented. The goals were to help bring attention to Congress on the gaps and issues that NASA’s pre-compliance with the President’s Budget Request has caused and on the importance of funding science and R&D. If you’d like to get involved in future efforts of this nature, we encourage you to join a GESTA committee (contact us to express your interest) and we encourage you to sign up for the Planetary Society’s Day of Action.  One action that came out of our brainstorming session with members of the Goddard community is a petition to “Save the NASA Goddard Visitor Center” that GESTA volunteers have just launched on Action Network:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-the-nasa-goddard-visitor-center-2 Please sign and consider sharing this petition with your network in the local community who may want to see this valued connection to NASA Goddard remain open! GESTA received official notification from management that they plan to close the Greenbelt campus cafeterias, vending services, motor pool services, recreation center, and the Goddard visitor center on October 1st; the health unit sometime in October; and the gym on November 30th. GESTA has informed management of our intent to bargain on these closures. A huge thank you to everyone who came out to our Bargaining Brainstorm event on August 14th! During the event we were able to collect attendee’s concerns and suggestions for management and GESTA regarding the proposed closure of each facility.
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