Shutdown Letter to Employees

The following letter was sent over email to our members on September 30th, 2025.

Dear Colleagues,

As you are aware, there could be a government shutdown by tomorrow, Oct. 1.  If Congress is unable to agree on and pass either a full budget or a continuing resolution (CR) by midnight tonight, federal employees will report to work Oct. 1 to begin an "orderly shutdown." If you're engaged in the news cycle, you may agree that this is highly likely to be the case, considering there has been an apparent breakdown in negotiations in Congress regarding FY26 appropriations.

IFPTE HQ ("the International") has put out several statements on the topic:

• https://www.ifpte.org/news/ifpte-nasa-locals-come-to-washington-fight-to-save-nasa-funding-unions
• https://www.ifpte.org/news/ifpte-condemns-trump-administration-plan-to-fire-federal-employees-during-a-government-shutdown
• https://www.ifpte.org/news/ifpte-urges-congress-to-pass-a-bipartisan-short-term-government-funding-that-protects-us-leadership-in-science-space-rampd-and-engineering

Note - Anyone can sign up for updates from the International here

As with other NASA centers, there should have already been guidance provided by GSFC management. In the event that some employees have not received anything, we'd suggest you review the following procedures (or those you feel are applicable):

                         ~~~SUGGESTED ORDERLY SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES ~~~

These instructions should come from your management chain / supervisor but they may come from Center or Agency Management (hopefully, some time today).

These instructions should be something like the following:

• Set your out-of-office messages to a template message that will read along the lines of "I am on furlough and unable to access government email/IT during this time. I will respond to your message when the furlough is over." 
• Set your status in Outlook and Teams to "Out of Office" or "Offline".
• Request guidance from your supervisor on how to fill in your timecard on whether using the "furloughed status"  works for the remainder of the pay period.
• Ensure your emergency contact information on file in EmployeeExpress and/or idMax is up to date. 
• Print out a couple of pay periods of your current recent pay stubs in the event you need documentation or proof of employment / salary (for loans, for example).
• Ensure your supervisor has your personal contact information (cell phone, personal email and mailing address)
• Wait until receiving orders or a pre-appointed time to leave the worksite.
• Monitor the news and/or official government websites (e.g., https://www.nasa.gov/goddard/shutdown-information/) for official notification to return to work 
• Consult the official OPM guidance on shutdown furloughs, (See page 4 of "Special Instructions for Agencies Affected by a Possible Lapse in Appropriations Starting on October 1, 2025"  for more shutdown guidance).
• Make sure you have the contact information for your coworkers in your work units. You never know when it may be important, and it is an essential way to stay in touch / be available to support / socialize while on furlough.
• If you haven’t already, please provide GESTA with your best personal email address so we can remain in touch as we transition our communications from government email: Email Signup

Note: While furloughed, you will be in a non-pay status, but you should receive back-pay (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Employee_Fair_Treatment_Act_of_2019). This Act was put into place during the last shutdown and was sponsored by Maryland Senators, Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (with support of IFPTE/GESTA)

Keep in with GESTA to let us know how you are holding up (assuming we do not reach out to you first). If things start getting bad for you - e.g., child care or medical payments are eating through your savings - let us know so we can find ways to help, whether that's pointing you towards the food bank or community support organization or something else.

                                                    ~~~ DUES PAYMENT UPDATES ~~~

Since NASA has canceled dues-payment via the SF1187 (as of the pay period ending 9/20/2025), we have expedited our efforts to get the eDues payment system set up for online payments, as was voted on by my members. Until the EDues payment system is ready, we have set up an interim online payment platform on Zeffy. You may pay monthly or for the year. Please sign up now to maintain your support and remain a member of the union. We will work with members who transitioned from payroll to Zeffy to reimburse any double-billing of dues that has already occurred. Members may also choose to donate any extra amount to GESTA. If you have any questions pertaining to dues, please contact us.

                                                              ~~~ A Word on RIFs ~~~

You have likely heard information in the news or otherwise regarding how a government shutdown might affect the possibility of RIFs. We do not think a RIF will happen should there be a shutdown. Because government shutdowns are unscheduled, 5 CFR 351 - Reductions In Force - would not be applicable, even for a furlough lasting more than 30 days. The bottom line is: A government shutdown does not result in automatic RIFs, nor does it give agencies any new authority or obligation to conduct RIFs. We provided details in an email yesterday to hopefully assuage some fears regarding the scare tactics we have already seen put forth by the head of OMB. For what it's worth, this is a similar interpretation as to what the Federal Unionists Network (FUN) has arrived at: https://www.federalunionists.net/press/statements/omb-memo-statement. We'll see what happens in the coming days.

Finally, we want to extend gratitude to all of you who have been stepping up in tremendous ways to help with rallies, training, advocacy and committee work. We have done A LOT since January and will continue to support our employees! Even though NASA is complying with the Executive Order and claiming that NASA employees are ineligible for union representation and collective bargaining rights, this does not mean we are going anywhere. We are still here, we will continue to do what we can to support everyone in what ways we can, and please do not forget that the point of a union is solidarity and collective action. We are the union! We are GESTA! 

Solidarity Forever,
GESTA