Action Alert: Protect America's Workforce Act

Update: The House of Representatives passed the Protect America's Workforce Act by a vote of 231 - 195 on 11 December, 2025. This action alert is now directed at the U.S. Senate.

The past year has brought considerable uncertainty and cuts to the United States STEM workforce. This includes federal employees at science agencies such as NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy, as well as students and researchers across the nation. Congress has the opportunity to take action to support our national STEM talent and workforce by supporting two bipartisan bills: 

• The Keep STEM Talent Act would establish a direct path to permanent resident status for advanced STEM degree holders. This would help create career pathways for international graduate students in the field who wish to remain and build their careers in the US post-graduation. 
• The Protect America’s Workforce Act would return bargaining rights to federal workers, including AAS members who work at federal agencies.  

Use the form below to ask your members of Congress to support the Protect America's Workforce Act (to send a message about the Keep STEM Talent Act, see this page). You can either use our email template or make a phone call with the suggested talking points. If your legislators have already signed onto these bills, they will receive a thank-you email. 

Please email us at [email protected] if you have any questions before reaching out to your representatives. Please note that any messages with crude or inflammatory language will not be passed on, and please be respectful during any communications with congressional offices (messages should align with the AAS Mission and Vision Statement and AAS Code of Ethics). 

When you use the Call button below, the system will call the phone number you entered to connect you with all three of your members of Congress in succession, so please end each call with the star (*) button instead of the end-call button to be automatically directed to the next office. 

Thank you for engaging in advocacy for the astronomical community!