NASA is eliminating its lead scientists and other roles as part of the Trump administration's efforts to save staff at Washington's headquarters.
The cuts will affect approximately 20 NASA employees. This includes Catherine Calvin, Chief Scientist and Climate Science Expert. The last day of work for Dr. Calvin and the other staff will be on April 10th.
It portends a deeper reduction in NASA's science mission, and could be focused on human spaceflight, particularly for Mars. In a speech to President Trump's Congress last week, he said, “We're going to lead humanity into space and plant the American flag on Earth's Mars.
Trump said that it wasn't a top priority during an interview with Fox News on Sunday, as he didn't give the astronauts a timeline to reach the Red Planet. “Are you number one on my hit list?” he said. “No. It's not.”
He added, “It's going to be a great result.”
The administration sent a notice to Congress on Monday to inform NASA that it is repealing the Chief Scientist office and the Bureau of Technology, Policy and Strategies.
“It's shortsighted and very surprising,” Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat and ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, said in a statement. “Trump's attack on science continues. If you want a playbook on how to lose to China in any technology race, this is it.”
Bhavya Lal, who served as a quasi-administrator of technology, policy and strategy when the office was created in 2021, said the office's purpose was to provide 'strict, rapid, data-driven, objective analysis,' on the issue that “often crossing federal agencies, NASA and White House decision makers.”
The issue included an economy that removed the debris of the universe and shaped how the future activity of the moon would be controlled. The office work “was more than just reaching the moon,” Dr. Lal said. “It was laying the foundation for a sustainable lunar exploration.”
The office also confirmed that NASA was driving innovation and thoughtfully considered its long-term impact,” she said.
The excluded positions include the agency's chief technists and chief economists, part of the technology, policy and strategy firm. Chief technist positions at NASA centers, such as the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, have not been affected, the notification said.
The agency is also reducing several positions related to diversity, equity and inclusion in the Equal Opportunity Office.
According to the notice, NASA is estimated to have a retirement cost of approximately $1.2 million.
“To optimize our workforce and comply with executive orders, NASA is launching a step-by-step approach to power reduction known as the RIF,” NASA spokesperson Sheryl Wheeler said in an email. “A small number of individuals received notifications on Monday. They are part of NASA's RIF.”
Eligible employees can opt to retire early, Wheeler said.
Democrats said they are worried about the continued deeper cuts at NASA.
Last week, the Planets Association, a nonprofit that promotes space exploration, warned that it believes the Trump administration is considering cutting NASA's scientific activities budget by half.
The removal of the work, announced Monday, is “more iconic and certainly less influential than some of the other numbers we're hearing for the budget and further RIF,” Casey Dreier, the association's head of space policy, said in an email.
Dr. Calvin was appointed Chief Scientist at NASA in January 2022. Since 2008, she has been a researcher at the Pacific Northwest National Institute of Collaborative Change in 2023 in College Park, Maryland, and she has been appointed chair of the Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a unified group on climate change, a unified group providing scientific information in domestic climate policy.
The role of the Chief Scientist was to advise NASA administrators and other senior officials on the strategic planning. Dr. Calvin is the agency's 11th Chief Scientist since 1982. This position was previously excluded during George W. Bush's presidency in 2005 and was recreated in 2011 when Barack Obama was president.
The position of Chief Scientist is separate from the position of the semi-administrator running Nicola Fox, the director of science missions at NASA.
