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NASA Staff Deliver Voyager Declaration Challenging Trump’s Budget and Workforce Cuts

Their letter intensifies pressure on acting administrator Sean Duffy as lawmakers advance measures to restore NASA funding.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 2: A NASA logo is displayed at the entrance to the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building on June 2, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Transportation Secretary, and now acting NASA Administrator, Sean Duffy speaks at a news conference in Washington, DC, on June 12.
NASA worker Nicole Smith wipes a tear from her face as she visits a makeshift memorial for the seven-person Columbia crew at one of the gates of the Johnson Space Center in Houston on February 7, 2003.
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Overview

  • More than 280 current and former NASA employees, including at least four astronauts, signed the Voyager Declaration to formally oppose the Trump administration’s proposed budget and staffing cuts.
  • Signatories warn that the White House’s FY2026 plan to slash NASA’s budget by 24 percent—including a nearly 50 percent cut to its science programs—would jeopardize human safety, research missions and U.S. leadership in space.
  • The declaration criticizes preemptive workforce realignments and efforts to dilute NASA’s Technical Authority, arguing that rapid organizational changes undermine safety protocols established after past disasters.
  • NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens maintains that any reductions will safeguard safety-critical roles and highlights that the administration still proposes billions in funding for science initiatives.
  • Bipartisan congressional measures to restore NASA funding and block unauthorized agency cuts are advancing in both chambers as lawmakers assert their appropriations authority.