Implementing Trump's proposed NASA cuts illegal before Congress passes budget: Democrats

Washington: Top Democrats on a House committee overseeing NASA's budget assailed senior agency officials on Thursday for starting to implement sweeping program cuts in President Donald Trump's proposed 2026 budget agenda before Congress agrees on an official budget, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

In the letter dated Wednesday to Sean Duffy, the new acting NASA administrator, the lawmakers cited remarks from senior officials during recent employee town halls that NASA must start adjusting its workforce and structure to align with Trump's budget request, which seeks a $6-billion funding cut and the termination of dozens of science programs and missions.

Making those moves before Congress agrees on its official NASA budget, currently drafted to reject Trump's proposed cuts, would be "flatly illegal" and "offensive to our constitutional system," said Zoe Lofgren and Valerie P. Foushee, ranking members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

"A presidential budget request is just that: a request to Congress," they said. "The notion that any executive branch agency would unilaterally take steps to implement a budget proposal before its budget is enacted by Congress is therefore offensive to our constitutional system. It would be illegal."

The White House could not be immediately reached for comment.

The letter quoted NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails saying during a recent agency town hall, "while the budget's still moving through the legislative process, based on what's proposed, based on the Administration's priorities, we have to take steps now to start realigning our workforce and the resources to meet the mission needs."

NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes, speaking at the same town hall, agreed, saying it would "probably be considered irresponsible" to wait for the congressional budget process.

The letter added that Hughes recently ordered NASA science programs targeted for cancellation in Trump's budget request to stop issuing press releases celebrating new scientific results and achievements.

Over 2,000 agency employees are set to voluntarily leave NASA in the coming months under the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" program, a vestige of job cuts by former Trump ally Elon Musk, who is also CEO of NASA's largest contractor, SpaceX.

"This is impoundment in action, and it must stop immediately," the letter said.

A draft spending bill from the House Appropriations Committee, released on Monday, rejects the program cuts and would keep NASA's funding largely the same as its enacted 2025 budget, while shifting some science program funding to NASA's space exploration unit, indicating bipartisan rejection of Trump's request for the space agency.

Republican Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz added language to the reconciliation bill that passed this month to provide $10 billion for an array of programs through the next decade that the Trump administration sought to phase out, including NASA's Space Launch System rocket.