Senate Commerce Democrats Report on Unconstitutional Gutting of NASA Reflects the Dire Reality for the Agency’s Workforce and Mission
WASHINGTON, DC – The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), a labor union representing over 34,000 civil servants – including 6,000 scientists, engineers, and professional staff at four NASA Centers and NASA Headquarters – responded to the findings in “The Destruction of NASA’s Mission,” released by Senate Commerce, Science, and Technology Committee Democrats and the Committee’s Ranking Member , Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The report provides oversight of NASA’s unlawful implementation of the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) before Congress has finished the appropriations process and well before the start of the FY26.
IFPTE President Matt Biggs:
“The Office of Management and Budget’s unlawful implementation of the President’s Budget Request at NASA completely surrenders the President’s goal of successfully returning Americans to the moon, charting a course for human exploration of Mars, and continuing our nation’s leadership in technology innovation into the 21st Century. For the better part of the year, NASA’s civil service workforce has been told again and again that the Administration will cut NASA’s Science budget in half and eliminate the Office of STEM Engagement, even though Congress does not agree to those unworkable cuts. Around 4,500 NASA scientists, engineers, and other professionals are about to leave because the agency began implementing these budget cuts months before Congress had weighed in on NASA spending levels. The Administration’s decisions put America’s STEM leadership, our lead in space exploration, and in aeronautics at grave risk.
IFPTE is fully committed to standing up for NASA and the work our members do, strengthening the world’s premier aerospace agency, and directing the bipartisan support for NASA to restore the agency’s most critical resource – the NASA civil service workforce. Our union applauds the patriotic whistleblowers and the Senate Commerce Ranking Member Cantwell, and her staff for documenting the crisis that this Administration is creating at NASA.”
IFPTE Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson:
“‘The Destruction of NASA’s Mission' makes clear that this Administration has not only violated Congress’s Constitutional powers, but has wasted taxpayer dollars, put valuable Science missions at risk, and driven some of the world’s premier research talent in science out the door. We fear that the U.S. is about to experience a brain drain, all do to a massive overreach on the part of the Administration that Congress, the American people, and the industry do not support. Our members who have built their public service careers at NASA are living through the destruction of this agency. This is being done without rhyme or reason, and it won’t only be costly to NASA’s future but to our nation’s leadership in space, science, engineering, aeronautics, and STEM. Despite the damage done and what may come next, IFPTE members and their union will defend NASA from this destruction and undertake the hard work of rebuilding the agency the first chance we get.”
IFPTE is a labor union representing upwards of 90,000 workers in the federal, public, and private sectors.
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Download IFPTE’s press release here.