NASA may consolidate major facilities due to Trump cuts
Source: Politico
04/07/2025 09:17 PM EDT
NASA may consolidate work in some regional offices, shifting thousands of jobs, but has no plans for massive layoffs or the elimination of major departments, acting administrator Janet Petro said Monday. The changes in the structure of the space agency’s work force reflect both an effort to cut costs and improve collaboration as the Trump administration pushes ambitious space goals, Petro told POLITICO.
“In the past that was never even allowed to be talked about,” she said in an interview, referring to the consolidation of some work. Her comments on the sidelines at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs come as Elon Musk’s DOGE has slashed thousands of government jobs and the billionaire pursues his own space ambitions, both independently and as a NASA partner.
But Petro said there are good reasons to consider consolidating some of NASA’s operations. “I think there would be a lot of stakeholder interest in that,” she said. Such a move could help drive efficiency by improving collaboration between NASA offices working on similar projects, said Petro, who herself heads the Kennedy Space Center. She did not say how many jobs would be shifted under any possible reorganization plan.
Petro has led the agency since January while President Donald Trump’s pick for NASA administrator, entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, awaits Senate confirmation. His hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. While NASA maintains a headquarters in Washington, most of NASA’s work is done in multiple offices across the United States, including the historic Kennedy Space Center that manages launches into space and the Johnson Space Center that manages human space flight. Some have massive footprints, with Kennedy alone home to 10,000 employees.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/07/nasa-consolidate-facilities-trump-cuts-00277741
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