SYDNEY — As the federal government nears a potential shutdown, a report by Senate Democrats alleges that NASA is already taking steps in to carry out the administration’s proposed budget and putting safety in jeopardy in the process.
The report, released Sept. 29 by the Democratic staff of the Senate Commerce Committee, cites anonymous whistleblowers and other sources within NASA to conclude that the agency was moving to implement the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, known as the president’s budget request or PBR, before Congress acts on appropriations bills.
“Based on whistleblower documents and interviews, this staff reports finds that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been directing NASA — since early summer — to begin implementing the devastating cuts demanded in President Trump’s proposed budget for FY26, in clear violation of the Constitution and without regard for the impacts on NASA’s science missions and workforce,” the report states.
The budget proposal sought a nearly 25% cut in NASA’s overall budget in 2026, with steeper cuts in areas like science and space technology. Appropriations bills pending in the House and Senate largely reject that cut, with some differences in areas like science.
According to the report, NASA staff have been informed by leadership to prepare to implement the 2026 budget even before Congress acted on it. “If it’s not in the PBR, it does not count,” one unnamed person said they were directed by superiors.
Not all of the sources are anonymous. The report cites comments made by Brian Hughes, NASA chief of staff, at an agency town hall in June. “If we were to wait for all of the congressional process to unfold and get to final resolution to make any movements or do anything, it would probably be considered irresponsible,” he said of carrying out the 2026 request if the fiscal year starts under a continuing resolution at 2025 levels.
Much of that direction, the report claims, is being communicated verbally rather than in written records. There are only a few cases of emails or other records that documented meetings that discussed implementing the budget proposal, including potential impoundment of funds already appropriated.
The Senate report goes on to state that staffing cuts linked to voluntary departures that cut the agency’s workforce by 20% this year along with plans to cut budgets created “a culture shift where employees are reluctant to make leadership aware of safety and security issues.”
One agency whistleblower told committee staff they were “very concerned that we’re going to see an astronaut death within a few years” because of those changes.
The report comes as NASA and the rest of the federal government faces a potential shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, as Congress has not yet passed a continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the government funded at 2025 levels in the near term.
The threat of a shutdown has raised worries that the administration may seek even more radical changes. OMB sent a memo to agencies last week instructing them, in the event of a shutdown, to prepare to layoff nonessential employees rather than furlough them.
NASA officials have offered few details about spending levels it would implement when a CR is passed or what the agency would do in the event of a shutdown. As of late Sept. 29, NASA had not issued any specific guidance about a shutdown on Oct. 1, and the agency’s shutdown plan was last updated in July.