GESTA Speaks with Congress

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.