WASHINGTON — NASA did not carry out a widely expected layoff of 1,000 or more employees Feb. 18, but the last-minute reprieve may only be temporary.
The agency was expected to fire “probationary” civil servants, a category of employees that primarily includes those in their first year on the job but can also include those who have recently moved into new positions or changed agencies. Such employees have limited civil-service protections. The cuts were planned as part of sweeping layoffs across the federal government by the Trump administration with the stated purpose of reducing costs.
Multiple agency sources, speaking on background, said they were told to expect probationary employees to be fired across the agency Feb. 18, which were amplified by news reports that stated that the firings would take place. They estimated at least 1,000 people were in danger of losing their jobs.
However, by the end of the day, there were no reports of layoffs of any magnitude across NASA facilities. Some said they were told that their specific centers, such as the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, were excluded, but given no reason for the exclusion.
That exclusion appeared to extend to all NASA facilities, at least for now. One possibility, sources said, is that NASA was able to successfully lobby the White House to stop the firings because of the critical nature of their work. If so, it would be an exception as layoffs continued at other federal agencies.
That included the National Science Foundation, which fired 168 people, about 10% of its workforce, Feb. 18. Those layoffs reported included both probationary employees as well as some others working at the agency on a temporary basis as subject matter experts.
“Indiscriminately firing 10% of NSF’s workforce today is a massive mistake that will hurt our ability to compete globally, especially with China,” said Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Haley Stevens…
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