--- title: "NASA Staff Slam Leadership for “Complete Breakdown in Communication” Under Trump" description: "A NASA union claims there's been a total collapse in the information chain connecting the space agency to the US government." date: "2025-11-04" modified: "2025-11-04" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/space/nasa-trump-goddard-center" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" --- # NASA Staff Slam Leadership for “Complete Breakdown in Communication” Under Trump ![A NASA union claims there's been a total collapse in the information chain connecting the space agency to the US government.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images* 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's been a deluge of unforced errors as [layoffs](), [budget cuts](), and [asset liquidations]() take a [devastating toll on morale](). If anyone in the Trump administration cares, it clearly isn't 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. "Throughout 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," the employee union announced, [according to *NASA Watch*](). 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]() of agency workers. As [reported by *Space.com*](), NASA's puppet leadership — installed by Trump starting with [Sean Duffy in July](), who's simultaneously running the Department of Transportation — have been illegally moving to implement Trump's 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. "The atmosphere, from my perspective, at least, has been incredibly dark and depressing," astrophysicist Casey McGrath told the publication. "I 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." "It 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," a researcher named Claire told *Space.com*. "Goddard is a science-based center with a lot of engineers," she continued, "and a lot of their missions are canceled out (in the President's budget request). It's taking a huge hit to the civil service workforce. It does feel like Goddard is now being singled out." In October, GESTA's parent union, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers or IFPTE, [filed suit against Trump's White House](), which issued an executive order revoking union bargaining rights for NASA's unions. In it, Trump explicitly argued that NASA's primary purpose was "national security" — ironically aligning with [left-wing critics]() of the agency as a product of the Cold War arms race. Trump's attack on NASA**'s** unions, however, is anything but progressive. **More on NASA:** *[Whistleblowers Say NASA Is Poised to Kill an Astronaut]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()