NASA employees layoffs: Trump administration planning to cut over 2,000 senior staff across 10 regional centers

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to cut 2,145 senior-ranking NASA employees with specialized skills or management responsibilities, according to documents obtained by Politico. All these employees are GS-13 to GS-15 positions- meaning senior-level government ranks specifically reserved for skills or management responsibilities. What is shocking is that the Trump administration is targeting experts with decades of experience in the space agency, which might spell trouble for the White House in the long run.

This is the latest action by the Trump administration to slash the size of the federal government through early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations. Early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations are being offered to 2,145 high-ranking NASA employees, the report said.

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NASA employees to lose jobs?

The documents indicate that 1,818 of the staff currently serve in core mission areas, like science or human space flight, while the others work in mission support roles including information technology, or IT. Many of those leaving also serve in NASA’s core mission sets, according to the documents.

"NASA remains committed to our mission as we work within a more prioritized budget", the agency's spokesperson Bethany Stevens told Reuters in an emailed statement.

“You’re losing the managerial and core technical expertise of the agency,” Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, told Politico. “What’s the strategy and what do we hope to achieve here?”

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Ever since Donald Trump has returned to the White House, planning in the US space industry and among Nasa’s workforce of 18,000 people has been thrown into chaos by the layoffs and proposed budget cuts for fiscal year 2026 that would cancel dozens of science programs. The losses are spread across each of NASA’s 10 regional centers, where much of the agency’s work is done and which focus on everything from planning astronaut missions to the moon to sending out deep space probes.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland is expected to see the largest staff reduction, with 607 positions cut. The Johnson Space Center in Texas will lose 366 employees, while Florida’s Kennedy Space Center will see 311 cuts. At NASA headquarters in Washington, 307 staff will be affected. Meanwhile, the Langley Research Center in Virginia will lose 281 positions, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama will cut 279 roles, and the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland will lose 191 staff members.

NASA is still without a confirmed administrator after the Trump administration unexpectedly pulled its nominee, billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman. The move appeared to be a retaliatory strike against Elon Musk, who had advocated for Isaacman’s appointment.

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In a social media post criticizing Musk on Sunday, Trump claimed it would have seemed “inappropriate” for someone so closely tied to Musk—especially someone active in the space industry—to lead NASA, given the agency’s deep entanglement with Musk’s businesses. Elon Musk, was almost inseparable from Trump as he headed the cost-cutting "Department of Government Efficiency," or DOGE, but the pair later fell out hard over the president's "big beautiful" domestic policy mega-bill.

In another significant development, Trump on Wednesday tapped Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to serve as interim head of space agency NASA, weeks after pulling the nomination of a tech billionaire who was an ally of SpaceX boss Elon Musk.

"I am pleased to announce that I am directing our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be Interim Administrator of NASA," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, praising Duffy's work on modernizing the country's air traffic control system.

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"He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time," Trump said.

On May 31, Trump yanked his nomination of Jared Isaacman -- the first private astronaut to conduct a spacewalk -- to lead NASA. "I was surprised to learn that he was a blue blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before," Trump posted about Isaacman on July 6.

"I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon's corporate life," he added.

(With AFP inputs)