NASA, busy with astronaut missions, gets extra week to submit mass layoff plan
Source: Reuters
March 14, 2025 4:38 PM EDT Updated 11 hours ago
WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - NASA on Friday said it received a one-week deadline extension to submit its plans for mass layoffs to the top U.S. personnel agency given the number of high-priority space missions the agency is grappling with this month. Federal agencies faced a deadline of late in the week to turn in plans for workforce reductions and reorganizations, the latest phase of Elon Musk and the Trump administration's sweeping effort to trim back the federal bureaucracy.
"Considering a variety of agency priorities this week, including the launch of SPHEREx and PUNCH, as well as preparations for NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 launch Friday, and other agency missions, the agency received a one-week extension on our initial submission," a NASA spokesperson said.
NASA and SpaceX have a high-profile launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station on Friday in a mission that will allow the return of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two veteran astronauts who have been stuck on the station since last summer because of problems with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
The Trump administration's deadline extension for NASA is the latest temporary reprieve for the space agency from mass layoff efforts, after firings of probationary employees in an earlier phase last month were abruptly averted at the eleventh hour.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/nasa-gets-extra-week-submit-mass-layoff-plan-given-busy-mission-workload-2025-03-14/
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