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\t\t\tIllustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins \/ Futurism. Source: Chip Somodevilla \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Since Donald Trump retook the White House earlier this year, the relationship between NASA staffers and government leadership has become unbelievably fraught. From the point-of-view of the rank and file, it\u2019s been a deluge of unforced errors as layoffs<\/a>, budget cuts<\/a>, and asset liquidations<\/a> take a devastating toll on morale<\/a>.<\/p>\n If anyone in the Trump administration cares, it clearly isn\u2019t getting the message. According to the group Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association (GESTA), which represents a broad swath of NASA staff, there has been a total collapse in the chain of operations from the space agency to the government.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout there has been a complete breakdown in communication from NASA agency and Center leadership where decisions are rarely communicated, almost always only verbally, and not directly by the decision makers,\u201d the employee union announced, according to NASA Watch<\/a>.<\/p>\n The statement comes as NASA prepares to close 13 buildings across the Goddard Space Flight Center, including some 100 separate laboratories, to the widespread condemnation<\/a> of agency workers.<\/p>\n As reported by Space.com<\/a>, NASA\u2019s puppet leadership \u2014 installed by Trump starting with Sean Duffy in July<\/a>, who\u2019s simultaneously running the Department of Transportation \u2014 have been illegally moving to implement Trump\u2019s disastrous 2026 budget request before being approved by Congress. Though NASA leadership dispute this, workers paint a grim picture of an agency being stripped for parts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe atmosphere, from my perspective, at least, has been incredibly dark and depressing,\u201d astrophysicist Casey McGrath told the publication. \u201cI feel like the people I work with, myself included, have just been demoralized, exhausted, terrified, frustrated and angry, for months and months on end with no pause whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt does feel like there is an overlap between the political party in charge of your NASA center and how your NASA center is faring right now,\u201d a researcher named Claire told Space.com. <\/p>\n \u201cGoddard is a science-based center with a lot of engineers,\u201d she continued, \u201cand a lot of their missions are canceled out (in the President\u2019s budget request). It\u2019s taking a huge hit to the civil service workforce. It does feel like Goddard is now being singled out.\u201d<\/p>\n In October, GESTA\u2019s parent union, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers or IFPTE, filed suit against Trump\u2019s White House<\/a>, which issued an executive order revoking union bargaining rights for NASA\u2019s unions. In it, Trump explicitly argued that NASA\u2019s primary purpose was \u201cnational security\u201d \u2014 ironically aligning with left-wing critics<\/a> of the agency as a product of the Cold War arms race.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s attack on NASA\u2018s unions, however, is anything but progressive.<\/p>\n