Nearly 4,000 NASA employees leaving the resignation program: NPR

Nearly 4,000 NASA employees have chosen to leave the space agency as part of the Trump administration’s delayed resignation program, NASA announced on Saturday.

The discounts represent approximately 20% of NASA’s workforce and will reduce the agency from 18,000 to 14,000 employees, said NASA spokesperson Cheryl Warner, in a shared statement with NPR. The total number includes the loss of 500 other workers from the agency due to normal attrition, she said.

During a second round of the program, which closed at midnight on Friday, 3,000 employees asked to leave the agency, Warner said, following the 870 employees who asked to leave in the first round.

Resignations follow the Trump administration plan to reduce the federal workforce and implement the reductions recommended by the Government Ministry (DOGE).

NPR contacted the White House to comment.

It is not known when the full reduction in the workforce will take effect, said Warner. NASA has not answered NPR questions about how the workforce will affect the agency.

The administration also proposed a decrease in the budget of NASA. A budget request for the financial year 2026 published in May would reduce the agency’s funding by around 24% (from almost $ 25 billion to almost $ 19 billion.) But the Chamber and the Senate discuss the recommendations that would keep the agency funding around the current budget.
Regarding funding beyond the next financial year, however, the agency recently obtained a boost – reversing previous proposals to withdraw certain NASA programs. Trump is a big act of Big Beautiful Bill that he signed earlier this month, allocates nearly $ 10 billion in additional funding for NASA until 2032, including the support of Missions Mars and plans to return to the Moon.

The budget cuts proposed by the White House and changes to the agency were criticized by scientists and space organizations, including the Planetary Society, a non -profit organization led by Bill Nye, “The Science Guy”.

“The Planetary Society believes that a great nation deserves a large space program, which reflects our national ideals and serves the public interest,” said the organization about the White House budget project in May. “This proposal is not content to not fail – it actively rejects this promise, undergoing the rare opportunities that NASA offers to build unity at home and collaboration abroad thanks to American leadership.”

On Monday, more than 300 current and former NASA employees signed and sent a letter known as the “Voyager declaration” to the interim administrator of NASA Sean Duffy, criticizing “rapid and unnecessary changes” to the agency which, according to them, include cuts for programs and research. They also urged Duffy not to implement the proposed cuts and said: “They are not in the best interest of NASA”.