GESTA Statement on the President's Budget Request

President Trump claims to support American leadership in space, but the President’s Budget Request (PBR) would do the opposite. The proposed NASA budget cuts are an existential threat to the exploration, scientific research, and technology development NASA is uniquely known for. The budget request would shrink NASA’s budget to the lowest levels since 1961, prior to the start of the Apollo program. It threatens our nation’s leadership in Space and Earth Sciences, requesting ~50% cuts to those programs (50% to Earth Sciences, 30% to Planetary Science, 66% to Astrophysics and 46% to Heliophysics).

The PBR also significantly cuts NASA’s facilities budget, proposing a $1.1 billion cut to the Mission Support Directorate, allegedly to “streamline” facilities operations and workforce costs. This is absurd. A recent report noted that “83% of NASA facilities have aged past their design life” and noted “[some NASA facilities were] the worst facilities many of its [committee] members have ever seen.” The budget would also zero out NASA’s STEM Engagement programs, through which NASA educates, inspires and brings NASA to the next generation. 

Under this budget an estimated 32% of the experienced, dedicated and patriotic federal employees who currently make up NASA’s workforce would be lost.  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which GESTA represents, would lose 48% of our civil servants. This does not account for the potentially even more severe reductions to NASA’s contractor workforce. 

Although NASA currently makes up only 0.37% of the US federal budget, the impacts of this historically bipartisan investment in NASA have been out-sized and lasting. Throughout NASA’s history it has served as a beacon to the world in Space Exploration and in the Space & Earth Sciences. The work NASA’s scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel do isn’t just inspiring – it’s a crucial part of our country’s ability to grow food, monitor air quality, and both predict and respond to natural disasters like fires, floods, and hurricanes. We also monitor solar activity and its real-time impacts to everyday citizens, explore worlds across our entire Solar System, and shed observational light on some of the most profound questions that humans can ask about Life and our Universe. All of this NASA has achieved while providing economic benefits to the US across all of its 50 states. In 2023 (the most current year for which data is published), NASA provided a total economic output to our nation of $75.6B dollars, representing a return on taxpayers’ investment measured only in economic terms of 3𝗑. 

We are privileged to see firsthand how NASA’s workforce and its science missions serve as a critical asset to our nation and to the world. If the proposed NASA budget cuts are realized, the loss of this highly specialized workforce, both within the federal government and with our partners in industry and academia, and the loss to our nation’s technical and scientific knowledge, might never be recovered. These cuts would surrender our nation’s long standing role as the world leader in science and technology innovation, and severely diminish our economic and political standing in the world.

GESTA urgently asks for Congress and the public’s support in rejecting these cuts, retaining US leadership in Space and Earth Sciences, and keeping the dreams of NASA alive for future generations. Since April, GESTA and our executive officers at IFPTE have been working very closely with Senate and House appropriators to share NASA’s priorities and to request resources needed for NASA’s varied missions and capabilities. We look forward to continued collaboration  with appropriators to develop a Fiscal Year 2026 budget that will support NASA’s leadership in science, technology, and inspiration.