Keith’s note: A judge has halted the new round of layoffs during the Shutdown – but OMB has only just begun to lay people off. Or try to.

• Judge blocks Trump admin from laying off federal workers during government shutdown, Politico: “U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, a Clinton appointee based in California, ruled from the bench after an afternoon hearing, saying that the administration isn’t following legal requirements for conducting reductions in force, or RIFs, and that officials have exceeded their authorities. Illston also cited public comments about the shutdown made by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, adding that the layoffs appear to be unlawfully targeted at Democrats.”
• Trump admin federal job cuts likely to be ‘north of 10,000,’ Vought says, CNBC “The Trump administration could slash more than 10,000 federal jobs during the government shutdown, White House budget director Russell Vought said Wednesday. “We want to be very aggressive where we can be in shuttering the bureaucracy, not just the funding,” said Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget. “We now have an opportunity to do that, and that’s where we’re going to be looking for our opportunities.”

Keith’s note: This tweet was posted by Russell Vought, the Director of OMB this afternoon. Will NASA issue RIF notices? We’ll soon find out. Hang in there.

Keith’s note: The White House / OMB are taking a stark stance on “imminent” layoffs across the government. They want people gone. Meanwhile NASA’s top leadership is going to receptions in Australia at IAC. Stories below.

Keith’s note: The news stories are piling up about the growing threat of actual layoffs – on top of furloughs – across the Federal government. OMB Director Vought is not mincing words. Of course, NASA HQ has plans for this – ready to be implemented – quickly. But it you try and get some information on this, well, all of NASA PAO is now on furlough and they won’t respond anyway since the White House/OMB has issued very strict and blunt warnings about doing so. Here’s a quick list of what’s out there. Hang in there.

• White House to begin firing federal workers within a “day or two”, Axios: “Vought told House Republicans that he’ll spend the next week figuring out “constitutionally” what the administration can do in terms of shrinking the federal work force, according to a source on the call. He also said the layoffs will be “consequential.”

• Memo from Congressional Budget Office, CBO
• Federal layoffs day or two away, budget director tells Republicans on shutdown call, The Hill
• Russ Vought’s directive to fire federal workers during a shutdown is illegal says Rep. James Walkinshaw, MSNBC
• Patent Office Lays Off Staff as Government Shutdown Begins, Bloomberg
• White House warns of imminent layoffs during government shutdown, USA Today

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.

Keith’s Note: according to a press release: “Last night, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo instructing federal agencies to prepare for Reductions in Force (RIF) if Congress does not pass a stopgap to fund the government by September 30. “The Trump administration continues to use public servants as pawns in their game to distract and destroy our federal agencies,” said Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). “This threat of further RIFs is shortsighted and stupid. The government can’t be run like a deal-making game show—people behind critical agency efforts provide services that benefit all Americans. Why does Trump want to punish Americans? We will fight these foolish RIFs with every tool Democrats and others resisting Trump’s chaos have available to us.”

Keith’s note: Yesterday OMB director Russell Vought and OSTP Director Michael Kratsios issued a memo titled “Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities and Cross-Cutting Actions“ to show what the Adminstration’s top five to-do tech things are. The shortest was “Number 5. Assure America’s Continued Space Dominance”. The words “science” and “education” appear nowhere in the space paragraph but “civilian and defense mission needs” appear in the first sentence. We also see the terms “Golden Age of American Innovation” and “Gold Standard Science” which, by virtue of being capitalized, represent the formal names of things that no one has actually defined. But wait: there is a quote at the top of the memo that says “We are going to conquer the vast frontiers of science, and we are going to lead humanity into space and plant the American flag on the planet Mars and even far beyond. And, through it all, we are going to rediscover the unstoppable power of the American spirit, and we are going to renew unlimited promise ofthe American dream. ” – President Donald J. Trump, 2025 Address to Joint Session of Congress”. So, you have your marching orders – and a shrinking budget and gutted workforce with which to carry them out.

Keith’s note: How do NASA and other agencies hire at the same time they’re RIFing their workforce to reduce head count? Are these replacement hires? Where do empty slots come from when reducing a workforce? Can you get RIFed and walk out of NASA and get in line to apply for your old job at NASA Oh then there’s loyalty oath vibe. See OPM Memo: “Merit Hiring Plan“ Embrace The Challenge y’all. Salient points below:

Keith’s 30 April note: At today’s meeting of MEPAG a NASA speaker said that that an outline or top-level aka “skinny” budget for FY 2026 might be released in the next few days. The full-blown, formal FY 2026 budget proposal will probably not come out until the end of May. Keith’s 1 May Update: the White House is going to release FY 2026 budget information on Friday.

Keith’s note: NASA and ESA are celebrating Hubble’s 35th birthday today. But the next 5 birthdays will be sad. According to space science community sources the pending budget from OMB orders NASA to start shutting Hubble off ASAP with a 20% budget cut in the next year’s budget with a zeroed budget after 5 years (2030). Grant money will evaporate. ACS, WFC3 IR channel, STIS CCD, will be turned off. Instrument scientists, software developers and flight controllers will be laid off. Oh well. Its been fun Hubble. Oh yes: NASA Roman is toast too. Lots of people would like to weigh in on this and other science cuts but they cannot. For now.