Democrats Accuse Administration of Cutting Spending at NASA and NOAA

Senate Democrats this week accused the Trump administration of illegally restricting spending at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A report published on Monday by Democrats on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee claims that White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought directed NASA in early summer to begin implementing spending levels outlined in President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget request — a claim which NASA leadership denies.

President Trump’s budget request proposed approximately $18.8 billion for NASA, a sharp drop from the fiscal year 2025 enacted level of $24.8 billion.

Whistleblowers quoted in the Democrats’ report said they were told to “get in line with the presidential budget request or lose their job or position.” They also raised safety concerns in relation to reduced spending. One whistleblower said they were “very concerned that we’re going to see an astronaut death within a few years” because of the Trump administration’s “chainsaw approach” to the agency. Another whistleblower quoted in the report said there is “no efficiency and no strategy” to the budget cuts, stating: “it’s a dart board in a dark room where darts are being thrown at random and hitting people.”

“The report is false,” NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said in a statement shared with FYI. “NASA has communicated openly and transparently with Congress that we continue to execute our available appropriated funding in accordance with established fiscal policies which respect congressional authorities,” Kshatriya said. “NASA will never compromise on safety. The president’s budget request stands with Congress at this point, and NASA will enact the budget appropriated to us,” he added.

The committee report focused on NASA, but it also asserts that there is “no doubt the Trump administration is trying to execute similar plans at agencies across the federal government.”

Senate Democrats also raised concerns about spending at NOAA this week, with Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sharing a letter they wrote to Vought demanding answers on agency spending in recent months.

The senators asked why NOAA’s fiscal year 2025 spending plan, reportedly approved by OMB in August, was $246 million less than what Congress directed. Much like at NASA, these cuts put spending at NOAA roughly in line with the funding cuts President Donald Trump proposed in his fiscal year 2026 budget request for the agency. NOAA did not respond to a request for comment on the letter, but staffing is currently reduced due to the government shutdown.

Van Hollen and Schiff’s letter suggests budget cuts at NOAA have affected research labs, competitive research grants, cooperative institutes, and fisheries management programs — actions that “will lead to environmental damage, economic loss, and social harm across the nation,” the senators wrote.

It remains unclear exactly how much money President Trump has delayed, withheld, canceled, or clawed back from federal agencies and programs over the course of his second term, but Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee estimate that the figure exceeds $410 billion.

An analysis published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that studies state and federal budgets, found that, as of July 31, the Trump administration had delayed or blocked the distribution of approximately $26 billion in funds approved in the fiscal year 2025 stopgap funding bill, which Congress approved in March.

These funding freezes, known as impoundments, targeted agencies and programs that did not align with Trump administration priorities, the CBPP report says. The accounts with the largest delays include health-focused agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; agencies that the Trump administration has targeted for elimination, such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services; and foreign assistance programs.

While the deadline for federal agencies to spend or commit funding for fiscal year 2025 passed on Sept. 30, reporting by Nature suggests NIH was able to overcome delays and obligate most of its fiscal year 2025 funding before the deadline, assuaging fears that the agency would have to return billions of dollars in unspent funds.