Prepare For The Worst, NASA

Keith’s note: OK so there is no legislation to extend spending until 21 November. Congress is leaving town and will only be back on 30 September – 1 October when it is probably too late to prevent a shutdown. The Presidential Budget Request (PBR) for FY 2026 kicks in and all the scary things that White House and OMB wanted to do to NASA missions and personnel will happen. Of course things could pivot in a new chaotic direction in an hour. So plan accordingly. Update: There is some chatter that the House Appropriations Bill as it frames a NASA budget (which is bad but less bad than PBR by comparison) is what Sean Duffy will be following until there is some clarity on a real budget. BUT this guidance is trickling down inefficiently and those people whose programs and missions – and employment – are nuked by the FY 2026 PBR are still acting as if that worst case scenario is what lies ahead on 1 October 2025. Talk about crushing agency productivity even further. After watching a needlessly capricious mass personnel exodus and incessant byzantine executive order actions by this Administration, no one at NASA really trusts what has become yet one false hope joke after another.