Keith’s note: The other day I tweeted that “In the @NASAKennedy town hall yesterday KSC Center Director and former Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro said that it was that DOGE and the Administration who told her to consider firing probationary employees ‘because that’s an easy way to cut down the work force’.” NASA PAO has told me that Janet Petro has “worked to ensure the continuity of the Pathways intern program” and I corrected that tweet. However I am told by iron clad sources that Janet Petro directed NASA Goddard to get rid of all interns, close the cafeteria and the health unit. DOGE was not the source of this direction. Like a lot of recent actions at NASA that involve DOGE, personnel downsizing, budget cuts, and mission cancellations, the real story is somewhere in between and subject to revision. I stand by my sources and yet I will always make corrections when NASA emphatically disputes my reporting.

Keith’s note: according to this CNBC post: “A federal judge further blocked the Trump administration from sharply cutting jobs and reorganizing the structure of many major federal agencies as part of its so-called DOGE effort under billionaire Elon Musk. The order issued late Thursday granted a preliminary injunction that pauses further reductions in force and “reorganization of the executive branch for the duration of the lawsuit.” According to this Democracy Forward press release : “The coalition of educators, school districts, and unions that challenged Secretary of Education McMahon’s massive reduction-in-force has won a preliminary injunction that will halt the administration’s unlawful effort to dismantle the Department of Education.”

Keith’s Rant #1: I wonder … while these DOGE folks are busy scurrying around eliminating people and things at NASA – do they ever stop to look up at the night sky – you know, the place where NASA does all of that exploration stuff – the reason that it exists in the first place? Probably not an action item on their spreadsheet. (Again) just wondering.

Keith’s note: Several sources report that the NASA GISS lease of the Armstrong Hall building in New York City can’t be broken by GSA without incurring a large financial penalty. So, if NASA leaves anyway with a DOGE claim of a cost savings NASA will still be paying ~$3 million a year until 2031 for a building they can’t/won’t use – – plus the rent for wherever the GISS folks are moved to.

Keith’s note: Science agency funding is under heavy scrutiny by DOGE, OMB, OPM and other Administration offices – whether it is for supposed DEI sins, perceived waste, or other things that do not resonate with the White House’s plans. NSF is already having a tough time. NASA is certain to be under similar stresses very, very soon. And of course there are long-standing synergies between NSF – and NASA – and NOAA etc. in terms of interagency research collaboration.

• According to “Trump team freezes new NSF awards — and could soon axe hundreds of grants” at Nature: “All new research grants have been frozen at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) — an action apparently ordered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to cut spending and workers across the US government. DOGE is also now reviewing a list of active research grants assessed in February by the NSF for terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and considering more than 200 of them for termination, NSF staff members have told Nature.”
• According to “Ranking Member Lofgren Urges NSF to Ignore Inflammatory Cruz Report, Releases Democratic Staff Report in Rebuttal”: “Today, Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) sent a letter to National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan urging the Director to disregard Senator Ted Cruz’s inflammatory report in any NSF grantmaking decisions. In addition to the letter, the Ranking Member also transmitted a Minority Staff Report that details how Senator Cruz’s report is deeply flawed, and his demand for grant cancellations is therefore misinformed.”
• Meanwhile NASA has already been sending form letters like this out to grantees: “TO: NASA Grant Recipient FROM: NASA Shared Service Center (NSSC), Grants Activities Branch SUBJECT: “Hold” on grants in response to the Executive Order, Executive Order 14222, “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative On February 26, 2025, the President of the United States of America signed an Executive Order titled, “Department of Government Efficiency” Cost Efficiency Initiative.” The purpose of this letter is to notify you that the following NASA grants are placed on “HOLD” until further notice to allow NASA the opportunity to review and determine the next steps. No further activities shall be performed as of today, March XX, 2025. Drawdowns in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Program Support Center, Payment Management System shall be made only for the costs incurred as of today. NASA appreciates your patience and support. With regards, … “

Keith’s note: According to this press release “Committee Leaders Demand Answers from NASA on DOGE Access After the Agency Refuses to Comply with Investigation“ specific instances of DOGE employees (who are named) with unparalleled access to NASA sensitive information have been identified. NASA has not been forth coming in their responses to earlier Congressional inquires in this regard. Now Congress wants answers, saying “The information we have reviewed of NASA’s vulnerability to DOGE-related threats is chilling.” Full release and letter below:

Keith’s note: If they can delete climate and Earth Science data at NOAA they can do the same thing to science data at NASA. According to this release from House Science Democrats: Ranking Members Condemn Trump Administration Plan to Shut Down NOAA Research Websites and Their Data: “Last night, reporting revealed that the Trump administration plans to shut down websites associated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) research division. President Trump and Commerce Secretary Lutnick plan to cancel the contracts of webservers that support these websites. If the websites are eliminated, the climate and weather data hosted on these sites would also be lost.” Update: NOAA research websites slated to go dark get a reprieve

Keith’s note: Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro just gave a plenary overview of NASA science at NAS Space Science Week [audio] This was a clear snapshot of what NASA science is, how the agency leads the world in this endeavor, its importance as an economic multiplier, and its value as an enabling tool for all forms of exploration. Of course, no details were offered on budgets, personnel, etc. Petro said “While I cannot speculate on decisions that have not been made yet, I can tell you this: NASA’s commitment to scientific excellence has never waivered and it will not waiver now.” “NASA is and will continue to be the global leader in space exploration and scientific discovery”. Of course, this is all moot if the White House/OSTP/OMB/OPM/DOGE says “Yea, yea, yea. So what. You’re still cut.”

Keith’s note: In January I noted that NASA had taken the NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) offline – so I posted an archive version of what was there before they fiddled with it (see: Someone Is Trying to Erase NASA’s Directives. Oops. We Have Them All). NODIS is now back online – but with lots of changes in according to White House Executive Orders. Well, the DOGE folks aren’t the only ones who know how to code. A NASAWatch reader has done an exhaustive look into what was changed – added, deleted etc. In NODIS “Noticing Changes in NASA NODIS Comparison of NASA Policy Documents Across Two Time Points 2025-01-20 to 2025-03-07“ notes:

• “At the start of the second Trump administration in 2025, NODIS went offline entirely many days , which was unusual. I was curious what changes might have occurred across that gap, but didn’t want to read and try to manually compare 260+ PDfs. No one does. Instead, I wrote some python code to collect and analyze the PDFs available at two different points in time. I figured it would be a good excuse to learn about the Internet Archive and build some skills around programmatic accessing of websites and identifying changes in PDFs.”
• “13 policy directives were deleted entirely with many having a focus on preventing or responding to discrimination. Two of those deleted were replaced by directives with a different name in what is basically a version bump.“

Keith’s note: According to “Internal White House document details layoff plans across U.S. agencies“ from the Washington Post: “The document obtained by The Post was last updated Tuesday. Trump instructed the Office of Management and Budget in a Feb. 11 executive order to work with U.S. DOGE Service and Musk to shrink the workforce. Agency heads’ blueprints for meeting this goal were due to the budget office and the government’s human resources arm, the Office of Personnel Management, earlier this month. Plans for reorganization and further staff reductions are due by mid-April. The document shows reductions of 8 percent at the Justice Department, 28 percent at the National Science Foundation, 30 percent at the Commerce Department and 43 percent at the Small Business Administration, among others.” (AI Image)