Moulton, Foushee, Beyer Lead Bipartisan Effort to Preserve Critical NASA Funding
Trump Administration's Proposed Cuts Threaten MA-based Chandra X-Ray Telescope
Salem, Mass. – Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06), Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, and Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08), are leading a group of bipartisan lawmakers to urge NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy to stop a proposed nearly 50% cut to critical science missions that fuel innovation and and good-paying STEM jobs, along with paradigm-shifting discoveries, including to the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, operated out of Massachusetts.
The lawmakers write: “There is much at stake. NASA’s strength and its science mission have implications for America’s geopolitical, economic, and national security interests. If ultimately enacted, the FY2026 proposal would represent an historic setback with far reaching consequences for U.S. research, industrial capabilities and educational opportunities all of which would cede our global leadership in space and Earth science to adversaries such as China and jeopardize America’s envied standing in the world for decades to come.”
The President’s proposed budget would make a 47% cut to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Moulton and the group of more than 60 lawmakers are calling on the administration to stop any efforts to make these cuts until Congress completes the annual appropriations process, so that Congress can signal continued support for American leadership in scientific innovation and space research.
Last year, Congressman Moulton led a separate effort to urge NASA to halt proposed severe budget cuts to the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, which operates a Control Center in Burlington and employs many U.S. military veterans.
He was successful in that effort, but new drastic cuts now proposed by the Trump administration would devastate the critical mission of Chandra and other scientific missions across the country. This would harm scientific research, threaten STEM jobs, and waste decades of taxpayer investment in the projects now slated for early termination.
“Space has always united us. It sparks wonder, inspires the next generation of scientists, and reminds us what America can achieve when we make bold investments,” said Congressman Moulton. “Gutting NASA for political reasons not only betrays a storied American history but will cede leadership to our adversaries.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.