Nearly 4,000 employees, or more than 20% of NASA enrollments, asked to leave the agency, confirmed on Friday at CBS News.
About 3,870 employees applied to leave NASA on two laps thanks to the Trump administration’s delayed resignation program, NASA revealed.
The deadline for applications on the program is midnight Friday.
With these deferred resignations, the workforce of NASA officials would drop from around 18,000 to 14,000 people. This figure also includes around 500 employees lost by normal attrition, the agency said.
“Security remains an absolute priority for our agency when we balance the need to become a more rationalized and more efficient organization and to work to ensure that we remain fully able to continue an era of exploration and innovation, including the Moon and Mars,” said NASA spokesperson, Cheryl Warner, in a press release.
According to NASA, around 870 employees asked to leave in the first round of the delayed resignation program and around 3,000 employees in the second round.
THE Delayed resignation program was a repurchase program Introduced through the federal government by the Ministry of Efficiency of the Government of the White House at the start of the Trump administration in order to reduce costs and reduce the size of the federal workforce.
A White House budget proposal issuing In May, NASA funding would reduce approximately 25% for the year 2026, from around 24 billion to 18 billion dollars.
NASA has also been rolled up by a leadership crisis in recent months. In December, President Trump appointed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, a friend of former Doge Elon Musk chef, to serve as the next NASA administrator. Musk’s SpaceX A Several NASA contracts.
However, at the end of May, Mr. Trump pulled The appointment of Isaacman just before the Senate confirmation vote, which was followed a few days later by a public audience Between Mr. Trump and Musk.
Earlier this month, The president announced Transport Secretary Sean Duffy would temporarily direct the agency.
contributed to this report.
