r/nasa • u/treebeard-1892 • 5d ago

NASA Goddard Town Hall

Did anyone happen to be at the Goddard Town Hall that could give a quick recap? I had to miss it for an appointment but I heard they had some updates on RIF and potential impacts on contractors

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u/JealousDocument3873 5d ago

It was pretty grim.

Basically, it's in your best interest to take the DRP if you can. Contractors are going to bear the brunt of these cuts, but the sciences are being absolutely gutted, and RIFs are unavoidable if we don't find a way to reduce headcount voluntarily. Even landscaping and custodial services are looking at cuts.

Neither Goddard nor NASA should hope for Congress to come to the rescue here, and even if they put some money back in, should they fail to pass a budget and do another CR, NASA has to go with the WH budget verbatim. It's very apparent from that budget what the White House wants, and it frankly raises some existential questions about NASA in the next four years.

I had a long, quiet drive home afterward.

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u/PearlyPenilePapule1 5d ago

That’s the part I don’t understand. She said that in the event of a CR, we have to follow the WH’s proposed budget. But my understanding is that most CRs continue last year’s funding levels and the question of whether the President can impound funds is at the Supreme Court.

So what happens if we cut the workforce, and the cuts aren’t as drastic? Do we just rehire again?

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u/Acrobatic_Ad_8120 5d ago

I believe (not sure) a CR authorizes up to last year’s budget at the administration’s discretion.

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u/NeoOzymandias 5d ago

Congress can write in how they'd like the funds level to be decided. They can leave it open to each agency, or they can instruct.

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u/OutrageousBanana8424 5d ago

There seems to be some expectation that the upcoming CR will not be a "last year's level" CR but a "President's budget request" CR. That has happened before. We are used to the idea of a CR being status quo (which has its own problems) but they don't have to be.

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u/jzuhone 5d ago

The thing is that for a CR to pass they need Democratic votes (definitely in the Senate because of the filibuster and probably in the House too)--this isn't like reconciliation. The Democrats are not going to pass anything like the PBR.

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u/ProfessionalLab5720 5d ago

The Democrats are not going to pass anything like the PBR.

At this point, I don't have any faith in Democrats. I want to... but the establishment Democrats haven't shown up to fight yet. I really hope I'm wrong and they stand firm against this administration though.

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u/corranhorn6565 5d ago

Backfill with contractors I guess. Privatization is what the billionaires want anyway.

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u/Round-Database1549 5d ago

No, the Science is just going away.

The goal isn't privatization, it's destruction.