Overview
- NASA received 3,870 applications in two Deferred Resignation Program rounds closed on July 25, representing over one-fifth of its 18,000 civil servants.
- Combined with about 500 normal attritions, the agency’s civil servant headcount is expected to fall to roughly 14,000 pending final review and potential withdrawals.
- Interim Administrator Sean Duffy and agency leadership emphasize that mission safety remains paramount as NASA pursues its Moon and Mars exploration goals.
- Bipartisan lawmakers on the House Science Committee and hundreds of current and former staff have filed letters contesting the program’s legality and warning of lost institutional knowledge.
- The buyout initiative, spearheaded by the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, seeks to downsize NASA without involuntary layoffs under President Trump’s federal efficiency drive.