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)

Keith’s note: This is a note from NASA MSFC Center Director Joseph Pelfrey sent out via Teams this morning. In this morning’s Office Hours meeting he indicated to attendees – multiple times – that information about the ARRP (NASA RIF Plan) was “embargoed by the White House”. Full memo below.

Keith’s note: this email “Latest on Executive Orders, Etc.” was sent to the NASA Armstrong workforce by Center Director Brad Flick on 24 March 2025 . Of all the NASA center directors, this guy sees to be among the few who understand the notion of transparency and respect for his workforce by telling them all that he can tell them. Kudos. Full memo below.

Keith’s note: the following was sent to NASA Employees today: “This week, Crew-9 returned safely to Earth, with Butch, Suni, Nick, and Aleksandr splashing down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida late Tuesday afternoon. I want to commend our teams for their outstanding work in ensuring a smooth return and for executing a seamless handover with Crew-10 aboard the International Space Station this weekend. Our crews and all of us on the ground really embraced the challenge from President Trump of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan to bring our crew home early – navigating it with professionalism, skill, and dedication. It was a spectacular liftoff for Anne, Nicole, Takuya, and Kirill, and a very clean countdown leading to their arrival at the space station on Saturday. I’m looking forward to the vital science investigations and technology demonstrations they’ll conduct during their stay.

Keith’s 18 March note: According to NASA sources there is another “Tiger Team Rollout Briefing” for NASA Center Directors at NASA HQ on Friday at 9:00 am EDT. Center Directors will be given an update on what has been discussed about the upcoming RIF at NASA. However, information to be revealed to attendees is likely to be held closely for the time being. The meeting on Friday will include NASA HQ senior management, Center directors, and some DOGE guys.

Keith’s note: according to a press release by House Science Democrats: “The missions of these agencies are critical to the health, safety, and prosperity of the American people,” said the Members. “Our devoted public servants make those missions possible. If you take away the workforce, what are you left with? DOGE will stop at nothing to slash and burn core functions of our federal science agencies at the altar of their twisted idea of ‘efficiency.’ This must stop.” … “The bills would institute RIF moratoriums at the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” (includes bill texts).

Keith’s note: There will be a 30 minute hybrid meeting today (17 March) at 4:30 pm EDT between Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro and her staff, the NASA Trump Administration political appointees, and DOGE. DOGE employees Scott Michael Coulter, Riley Sennott, and Alexander Simonpour will be attending. As I previously noted there will be a NASA RIF Tiger Team Rollout Meeting at NASA HQ tomorrow (Tuesday 18 March).

Keith’s note: There is going to be a “Tiger Team Rollout” meeting on Tuesday 18 March between NASA HQ Administrator’s office, Mission Directorate AAs, NASA Center Directors, and DOGE representatives about NASA’s RIF plans in response to the 26 Feb 2025 OPM RIF Guidance memo. As you may recall NASA got a one week reprieve from OPM/DOGE regarding their submittal on 13 March of the NASA Phase 1 ARRP (Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan) last week. NASA management was apparently too busy to finish their plan to fire many of the people who were also too busy doing the whole space exploration thing. Update: Senior NASA Meeting With 3 DOGE Employees Today (Monday 17 March)

Keith’s note: according to OPM’s “Guidance on Collective Bargaining in Connection with RIFs“: “Because government-wide regulations prescribe a detailed, comprehensive process for agencies to follow when conducting a RIF, the scope of collective bargaining should be limited to procedures and appropriate arrangement that do not run afoul of these regulations. Additionally, federal sector collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) often contain comprehensive RIF articles that may obviate an agency’s obligation to further collective bargaining.” Full memo below.

Keith’s note: This was just released by NASA PAO. They had too much to do this week so they got a 1 week extension to finish their plan on how to fire the people who were too busy this week. “In compliance with the President’s Workforce Optimization Initiative, NASA continues to work on our broader reorganization plan. Considering a variety of agency priorities this week, including the launch of SPHEREx and PUNCH, as well as preparations for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 launch Friday, and other agency missions, the agency received a one-week extension on our initial submission.”