Senate Report: The Destruction of NASA’s Mission

Keith’s note: the following report was issued today: “The Destruction of NASA’s Mission” Whistleblowers reveal OMB’s Unconstitutional Plot to Gut the Agency – U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member Full report . — Excerpt below.

NASA stunned the world and inspired generations on the day Americans first set foot on the moon. Since then, NASA’s breakthroughs and discoveries have superpowered America’s innovation economy, achieved global leadership in space technology, leveraged earth sciences to protect the American public from natural disasters, and pushed the boundaries of knowledge about the origins of our universe with stunning images collected by space-based telescopes.

NASA has always been, at its core, an elite science agency.

NASA’s motto is fittingly “For the Benefit of All.” We all benefit from NASA’s research and technology development that leads to ever more capable weather satellites. For example, next generation National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellites, as developed by NASA, include new instruments that greatly improve the ability to forecast severe weather events and detect wildfires—saving lives and preventing further destruction when disasters hit.

We all benefit from NASA’s Earth science satellites, which track drought conditions, inform emergency response operations, and fortify national resilience. And we all benefit from NASA’s fundamental research that continuously expands our understanding of the cosmos. For a quarter-century, the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, one of NASA’s “Great Observatories,” has collected invaluable data on black holes, supernovas, dark matter, and stellar evolution.

Today, all of this progress is at risk. While our nation is rightly focused on winning the race against China to return to the moon, it would be a Pyrrhic victory to simply plant another American flag on the lunar surface without staying to establish a U.S. base and carry out the science and experiments that are an essential part of NASA’s mission. We need this permanent presence to foster the innovations that will enable the next era of space exploration and utilization to benefit all of humanity. There is simply no winning the space race without fully funding NASA science, research, and development.

As part of Ranking Member Cantwell’s oversight of the potential impacts of President Trump’s budget request (PBR) for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), Democratic staff on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation have uncovered evidence of an illegal plot already in motion. Based on whistleblower documents and interviews, this staff report 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.

While this report documents the illegal destruction happening at NASA, there can be no doubt the Trump Administration is trying to execute similar plans at agencies across the federal government.’

Full report