Keith’s note: I was just on Bloomberg TV/radio/Web. [audio] I was asked if there was an issue with New Interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy having more than one job. I replied that this usually means that you delegate more to your staff. I noted that while Department of Transportation involves a lot of known, commonplace things but that NASA is really all about the whole rocket science thing and that Duffy will really need to lean heavily upon NASA staff. I also noted that the agency is still being run by NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes who is a former Trump campaign guy and a pal of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles – and that having a direct hotline into the White House when you need something is certainly not a bad thing to have. On the other hand Duffy is a staunch Trump loyalist so he’ll be implementing the Presidential Budget Request for NASA for FY 2026 including layoffs and cancellations as if it is a formal plan until directed otherwise by Congressional action on a budget that the President signs off on. Video below – my interview starts at 44:20

Keith’s note: Moments ago I spoke with CNN about NASA’s budget, science, layoffs, competition with China and newly appointed “interim” NASA Administrator DOT Secretary Sean Duffy. [Audio]

Keith’s note: the following memo updated 9 July 2025 is circulating around the KSC community and has official management answers to questions about DRP, RIFs etc. Full memo below.

Keith’s note: In what will soon become commonplace another valuable and valued employee is leaving NASA: Ronald Gamble, Jr, Ph.D., a Theoretical Astrophysicist in the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA GSFC. He posted this on LinkedIn: “An amazing thing happens when you pursue a dream and achieve it — you transform. It is a metamorphosis that forever changes you. These last four years at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and The University of Maryland have been the most transformative and invigorating time in my career and I will never forget the work and connections I’ve made.” (more below)

Keith’s note: the pace at which people are leaving NASA is going up. People with 25 years like Edward Gonzales are bidding farewell. I have seen many notes from folks but this one he posted on LinkedIn just stopped me in my tracks. Reposted here with his permission. AdAstra Eddie from NASA. Full post below.

Keith’s note: Here’s a snapshot of where things stand in the DRP (Deferred Resignation Program) arena: Over 2,600 NASA employees have taken the deal so far and the window doesn’t even close until 25 July. In addition, there are another 350 or non-DRP departures scheduled. Add that up and you have over 17% of the NASA workforce planning imminent departure. Over 70 SES employees are leaving – that includes Human Resource directors, the CIO, and the CISO. Center Directors are also planning departures. NASA is going to be at the lowest level of employees since it was founded. At this rate an agency-wide RIF may not be needed but focused RIFs at centers may still be called for. People without options are staying behind risking RIF exposure with an increasingly bad job market. Back at NASA, with large gaping holes in expertise at forming, you have to know that reassignments and relocations are going to be required to “re-balance” things. Of course the contractor workforce gets doubly screwed since they have no real protections. University researchers will be left high and dry. And you can forget about nurturing the pipeline of next generation space scientists and engineers. This is not making space great again. Rather, it is NASA being taken off of the playing field while other nations ramp up and reach for the prize.

Keith’s note: According to “The first rule in Trump’s Washington: Don’t write anything down“ in The Washington Post:

• “Within the Interior Department, top officials are telling U.S. Geological Survey center directors not to put the words “reduction in force” or “RIF” – both terms for federal layoffs – in memos or emails, according to an employee there. At the Education Department, political appointees are scrambling to move staff around to make up for resignations and firings, but refusing to issue reassignments in writing, said a former staffer there.”

• “At one NASA center on the West Coast, staff no longer have conversations at their cubicles, an employee said: Any chats happen inside an office, with the door closed, and most people prefer to talk outside on the lawn, escaping the building entirely. “Nothing is written down,” the employee said. “Nothing.”

Keith’s note: NASA Associate Administrators & Center Directors are told by the Acting Administrator to get more people to quit. Non-compliance by CDs/AAs will lead to their firing. And yes, there will be RIFs. Monday’s protest is a start. So, take Janet Petro’s advice: Embrace The Challenge – show them you won’t take this sitting down. Be safe.

Keith’s note: As of 4:07 pm EDT has 1,604 people taking voluntary separation. The 9th floor has been pushing Center Directors, Directorate AAs, etc. to get more people to quit – a lot more – over 3,000+ more.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in for this week’s agency town hall. More than 32,000 of you watched through townhall.nasa.gov – and that doesn’t include those who gathered in auditoriums and conference rooms to watch together. A big thanks to our Office of the Chief Information Officer for putting key measures in place to ensure we stayed online and uninterrupted from start to finish.  Keith’s note: here is the audio from the Town hall event – note that although the topic of RIF was frequently asked, Janet Petro makes zero mention of that word or statements that she and her staff made in this sanitized version of the event. Instead it is all about “voluntary workforce shaping”.