White House officials have declined to make make cuts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), according to a report published Tuesday.
ArsTechnica reported that NASA employees anticipated a directive from the White House Office of Personnel Management to fire probationary employees at the space agency.
“We were on pins and needles throughout the day,” one senior official at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, said on Tuesday.
ArsTechnica continued:
However, by late in the afternoon, several field center directors received confirmation from the White House that their probationary employees—of which there are more than 1,000 across the agency’s headquarters and 10 field centers—would not be terminated. NASA had sought exemptions for all of these employees, who comprise about 6 percent of NASA’s workforce. Ars could not confirm whether the reprieve applied to some field centers or all 10 of them.
The Trump administration has sought to fire federal employees at several federal agencies who are in the “probationary” period of their employment. This includes new hires within the last one or two years or long-time employees who have moved into or been promoted into a new position.
A NASA spokesperson declined to comment to the outlet on the updated guidance; however, two sources reportedly said that it is possible that private astronaut Jared Isaacman asked President Donald Trump to have the cuts put on hold. Trump has tapped Isaacman to lead NASA.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
