Nearly 4,000 NASA employees have chosen to leave the space agency through President Donald Trump’s deferred resignation program. This amounts to around 20% of its workforce, and will reduce the agency from 18,000 to 14,000 employees, NASA spokesperson Cheryl Warner said in a statement. This figure also includes about 500 employees who were lost through normal attrition.
“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,” Warner added.
READ: What’s left for Elon Musk after Trump fallout? (June 9, 2025)
About 870 employees applied to leave during the first round of the Deferred Resignation Program, and about 3,000 employees during the second round, according to NASA. The Deferred resignation program is a buyout program introduced by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as part of an effort to reduce costs and the size of the federal workforce. The administration has also proposed cuts to NASA’s budget.
According to a fiscal year budget request for the year 2026 released in May, funding for the agency would be reduced by 24%, from nearly $25 billion to nearly $19 billion. However, the House and Senate are reportedly discussing recommendations to keep funding for the agency around the current budget. The agency also recently got a boost, reversing earlier proposals to retire some of NASA’s programs. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that he signed into law earlier this month, allocates nearly $10 billion in additional funding for NASA through 2032, including backing for Mars missions and plans to return to the moon.
The proposed budget cuts and changes have received criticism from scientists and space organizations including The Planetary Society, a nonprofit led by Bill Nye, “The Science Guy.”
READ: White House is slashing more than 2,000 NASA jobs: Report (July 10, 2025)
“The Planetary Society believes that a great nation deserves a great space program, one that reflects our national ideals and serves the public interest,” the organization said about the White House budget proposal in May. “This proposal doesn’t merely fall short — it actively rejects that promise, undermining the rare opportunity NASA provides to build unity at home and collaboration abroad through American leadership.”
NASA is also going through a leadership crisis. In December, President Trump nominated billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, a friend of former DOGE head Elon Musk, to serve as NASA’s next administrator. Musk’s SpaceX has several NASA contracts. However, Isaacman’s nomination was pulled ahead of the Senate confirmation, shortly before Trump and Musk’s public fallout. Earlier this month, it was announced that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy would temporarily lead the agency.
On Monday, more than 300 current and former NASA employees signed and sent a letter called the “Voyager Declaration” to interim NASA administrator Sean Duffy, criticizing “rapid and wasteful changes” at the agency that they say include cuts to programs and research. They also urged Duffy to not implement the proposed cuts and said “they are not in the best interest of NASA.”