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.