Roughly 20% of the workforce at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to depart the agency, a spokesperson confirmed Friday, marking a significant shift as the space agency grapples with restructuring under the Trump administration’s broader push to reduce the size of the federal government.
Approximately 3,870 NASA employees have opted to leave through the government’s Deferred Resignation Program, though the agency noted the figure may change in the coming weeks as applications are finalized or withdrawn. After the resignations and natural attrition are accounted for, NASA expects to maintain a civil servant workforce of about 14,000.
The reduction, described by the agency as an effort to become “streamlined and more efficient,” comes amid rising concerns about the potential impact on NASA’s mission readiness and safety standards.
“Safety remains a top priority for our agency as we balance the need to become a more streamlined and more efficient organization and work to ensure we remain fully capable of pursuing a Golden Era of exploration and innovation, including to the Moon and Mars,” NASA said in a statement.
This is the second major wave of departures since President Donald Trump re-entered office and resumed efforts to shrink the federal workforce. The first round, initiated shortly after his inauguration, offered a buyout to federal workers, resulting in the voluntary departure of around 870 NASA employees—roughly 4.8% of its workforce at the time. That effort was coordinated by the Department of Government Efficiency, now led by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.
{{/usCountry}}This is the second major wave of departures since President Donald Trump re-entered office and resumed efforts to shrink the federal workforce. The first round, initiated shortly after his inauguration, offered a buyout to federal workers, resulting in the voluntary departure of around 870 NASA employees—roughly 4.8% of its workforce at the time. That effort was coordinated by the Department of Government Efficiency, now led by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.
{{/usCountry}}The latest round, launched in early June with a deadline to opt in by July 25, saw around 3,000 additional personnel—about 16.4% of the agency—choose to leave. The program is designed to minimize the need for involuntary layoffs, NASA officials said.
“The reason we are doing this is to minimize any involuntary workforce reductions in the future,” former acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro said during a June 25 agency town hall. “That is our whole goal, minimizing that.”
Future of space agency in jeopardy?
Despite reassurances, the departures have ignited debate within the scientific community and inside NASA itself. A growing chorus of current and former employees are warning that the agency may be shedding too much too quickly—at the cost of deep institutional knowledge and mission-critical expertise.
In a letter addressed to interim Administrator Sean Duffy, who also heads the Department of Transportation, hundreds of current and former NASA employees expressed concern over the cuts. The letter, titled “The Voyager Declaration,” cautioned that the agency’s ability to execute its complex missions could be compromised.
“Thousands of NASA civil servant employees have already been terminated, resigned or retired early, taking with them highly specialized, irreplaceable knowledge crucial to carrying out NASA’s mission,” the letter reads.
NASA had earlier sought a “blanket waiver” in February to protect its probationary employees from layoffs. However, the mass departure now underway highlights the limits of those protective measures.