Latest news with #Sean Duffy
New York Times
21-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Hundreds of NASA Employees, Past and Present, Sign Letter of Formal Dissent
A public letter from NASA employees on Monday urges leaders of the space agency not to carry out deep cuts sought by the Trump administration. 'We are compelled to speak up when our leadership prioritizes political momentum over human safety, scientific advancement and efficient use of public resources,' the employees wrote in the letter. It is addressed to Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation, whom President Trump appointed this month as acting NASA administrator. Cuts to NASA programs have been arbitrary and in defiance of priorities set by Congress, the NASA employees said. 'The consequences for the agency and the country alike are dire,' they wrote. NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NASA letter follows similar letters of criticism by federal employees at the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the N.I.H. director, said he welcomed respectful dissent, but the E.P.A. placed 144 employees who signed that agency's letter on leave. 'We're all scared that we're going to get laid off,' said Monica Gorman, an operations research analyst at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. 'We're scared of retaliation. We huddle in the bathroom. We go to the bathroom to talk to each other, and look under the stalls to make sure that no one else is there before we talk.' Ms. Gorman is one of 287 current and former NASA employees who signed the letter, although more than half did so anonymously. More than 15,000 people work at the space agency. Prominent scientists outside of NASA, including 20 Nobel Prize winners, also offered their names in support. Read the NASA 'Voyager Declaration' Letter of Dissent Hundreds of current and ex-employees of NASA signed a formal dissent letter protesting the Trump administration's proposed cuts to the agency. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fast Company
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fast Company
U.S. auto safety agency to cut more than 25% of employees
A crash test model is displayed on the floor of the New York Auto Show in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 29, 2018. [Photo: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters, File] BY Listen to this Article More info 0:00 / 2:19 The U.S. auto safety agency is shedding more than 25% of its employees under financial incentive programs to depart the government offered by the Trump administration, according to data provided to Congress seen by Reuters. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the Transportation Department, is shrinking from 772 employees as of May 31 to 555 under the program. The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration are also both losing more than 25% of their staff. Representative Rick Larsen, top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, expressed concerns about the cuts, questioning how USDOT can 'expedite project delivery and advance safety with a decimated workforce.' Overall, USDOT is losing just over 4,100 employees dropping from nearly 57,000 to 52,862, with the Federal Aviation Administration shedding 2,137 and falling from about 46,250 to 44,208. Subscribe to the Daily Company's trending stories delivered to you every day SIGN UP Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that the department did not cut any safety-critical employees and is actively seeking to add air traffic controllers. USDOT and NHTSA did not immediately comment. It is unclear if the Transportation Department still plans to conduct a layoff program on top of the early retirement departures. NHTSA has a number of ongoing investigations into advanced driver assistance systems and self-driving vehicles involving Tesla, Alphabet's Waymo and other companies. Consumer advocacy groups on Thursday urged lawmakers to drop proposed cuts to NHTSA's budget, including cutting its operations and research account by over $10 million 'harming the agency's ability to conduct rulemaking, enforcement actions, and research and analysis.' It would also cut nearly $78 million of supplemental funds from the $1 billion 2021 infrastructure law. Groups said they were 'particularly concerned that such funding cuts may lead to further firings or forced retirements, which have decimated NHTSA.' —David Shepardson, Reuters The super-early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
