During the government shutdown in November, the Trump administration suddenly accelerated its plans to shutter over a dozen buildings and around 100 laboratories at NASA’s iconic Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
The decision angered Democratic lawmakers, who accused them of going ahead with the “consolidation” effort without even consulting them.
In a November 10 letter addressed to Sean Duffy, who served as NASA’s interim administrator at the time, representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) noted that her staff had received “disturbing reports that NASA is directing the imminent closure of laboratories and facilities hosting mission-critical capabilities” at the GSFC.
Of particular concern is the campus’ main library, which was unceremoniously shut down last month, as the New York Times reported on December 31. NASA officials tried to downplay these concerns seemingly to no avail — as former and current staffers, advisors, and union representatives continue to watch in horror as the GSFC closures go on.
NASA insiders cried foul following the library’s closure, warning that critical and still-undigitized materials could be thrown out in what they said were reckless efforts by the Trump administration.
NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, who was confirmed by the Senate on December 17, was angered by the NYT‘s framing, accusing the newspaper of not fully reflecting the “context NASA shared.” He argued that “at no point is NASA ‘tossing out’ important scientific or historical materials.”
That’s despite later admitting that “some materials with no historical or technical value may not be retained” following a “deliberate review” over a period of 60 days.
NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens chimed in as well, describing the moves at Goddard as a “consolidation, not a closure.”
Isaacman’s comments have seemingly done little to reassure rattled NASA staffers. In a January 7 response spotted by Astronomy, Matt Biggs, the president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) — a union that represents thousands of NASA scientists and engineers — accused Isaacman of making “patently false” statements.
“The rapid and haphazard shutdown of the library at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, reported on by The New York Times, decimated this valuable collection housed at NASA’s largest research library,” Biggs wrote.
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