Policy Update (4 March 2025)

As a reminder, 168 NSF employees were laid off two weeks ago, but NSF has started reinstating some of these employees. NASA was able to avoid massive layoffs two weeks ago, though federal employees are still at risk of losing their jobs amidst the Trump administration’s optimization efforts. These layoffs include employees from NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce, some of whom are responsible for working on the Traffic Coordination System for Space. Last week, the Trump administration released a memo that instructs federal agencies to develop agency reorganization plans no later than 13 March 2025, which must seek to increase productivity, reduce the number of full-time equivalent positions by eliminating positions that are not required, and reduce the agency budget topline. In the same week, a federal judge in California found that the mass firings of probationary employees were likely unlawful. For more details, see: 

• NSF begins reinstating some probationary employees after mass layoffs (AIP FYI) 
• Over 1,000 NASA employees saved from dismissal as Trump downsizes federal workforce (Space) 
• Office of Space Commerce hit by layoffs (SpaceNews) 
• Guidance on Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans Requested by Implementing The President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative (The White House) 
• Judge finds mass firings of federal probationary workers were likely unlawful (AP) 

Both the House and Senate narrowly passed their respective versions of a budget resolution, which is the first major hurdle towards budget reconciliation. It is still unclear how the two chambers will come to an agreement, though the President has made it clear he prefers the bill set forth by the House. For the next two weeks, however, the reconciliation process will take a backseat to the more pressing matter at hand: funding the government for FY 2025. The current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires on 14 March 2025. Congress is working to reach a bipartisan agreement, possibly in the form of a full-year CR, to avoid a government shutdown in less than two weeks. For more information, see SpacePolicyOnline’s weekly update for 2-9 March 2025. 

Almost 400 AAS members responded to our most recent Action Alert. More than 1,100 emails and phone calls were sent to representatives in support of strong funding for the space sciences and a robust US workforce. If you haven’t sent an email to or called your representatives already, please consider doing so using the link above. We just released a new Action Alert where our members can submit member requests for FY 2026 appropriations for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, NSF, and DOE Office of Science. Please take a look and contact us if you have any questions!

Over the last six weeks, the AAS policy team has held 40 meetings with member offices in the House and Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations subcommittees, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. We have been advocating for strong support of the space sciences, voicing our concerns over the layoffs at our federal agencies, and sharing the stories of how our members are impacted by recent events. Last week, Dara Norman, AAS President, held in-person meetings with Hill and agency staff to further communicate our message. The AAS policy team is also preparing for Congressional Visits Day at the end of the month, where we are hosting 17 AAS members to advocate for AAS priorities on the Hill with their representatives. We are also sponsoring two undergraduate students to attend the 2025 Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering Workshop and participate in congressional visits in early April. 

The AAS Policy Team will be hosting a public policy seminar on 19 March, 2025 from 2:00 - 3:00pm ET. In this one-hour webinar, we will discuss how you can schedule zoom or in-district meetings with your congressional offices to advocate on issues that are important to astronomy, tips and best practices for these meetings, and provide an overview of how Congress works. Please register using this Zoom link.

On Wednesday, 5 March 2025, the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee in the House Committee on Science Space and Technology will be holding a hearing titled Assessing the Threat to US Funded Research. On Friday, 7 March 2025, there will be a nationwide event for Stand Up For Science. If you have questions or comments for us, feel free to email [email protected] or stop by the AAS Policy and Education Office Hours.