Maryland lawmakers demand answers for NASA changes at Goddard Space Flight Center

Maryland’s entire Democratic congressional delegation is demanding answers from NASA about unexplained building closures, workforce losses and accelerated consolidations at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, during the government shutdown.

In a new letter to NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy, two Senators and seven House Representatives expressed alarm over months of workforce attrition and sudden changes to facilities that may be undermining Goddard’s world-leading science capabilities at a moment when other nations, particularly China, are actively ramping up their spaceflight ambitions.

Top among the signatories were Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, who were joined by Maryland’s Democratic House representatives Steny Hoyer, Jamie Raskin, Sarah Elfreth, Johnny Olszewski, Jr., Kweisi Mfume, Glenn Ivey and April McClain Delaney. They gave Duffy a Nov. 17 deadline to respond to a litany of questions that request clarity on what buildings are being emptied, what technical capabilities are being disrupted and why any relocations were conducted during a lapse in appropriations during the longest U.S. government shutdown to date.

The lawmakers describe Goddard, which employs nearly 10,000 people in their state, as the premiere Earth and space science research center in the world and say the moves during the shutdown, which ended after Wednesday (Nov. 12), appear to threaten its long-term ability to lead flagship missions, such as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

They cite months of voluntary separations, deferred resignations, reductions in force and other pressures, also reported by Space.com, that have removed thousands of civil servants and contractors from Goddard, warning that the resulting instability could see U.S. expertise and talent lost to foreign organizations offering higher salaries and research budgets.

“Where the U.S. has considered stepping back, China has made clear they are eager to step in,” the letter reads. “We can and must re-invest in the people and centers that make America the global space leader and that starts with Goddard.”

The letter criticizes campus consolidations they said are occurring without transparency, prompting concerns about whether NASA’s actions align with legal requirements, long-term planning, or the center’s scientific mission.

The delegation asked NASA to disclose when its consolidation plans for the Greenbelt campus were finalized, what analyses justified them, and how the moves align with Goddard’s existing 20-year master plan. That plan outlines renovations, demolitions and new constructions designed to reduce the center’s campus footprint and raise efficiency through 2037.

An acceleration of that plan was announced to employees in a Sept. 22 email, obtained by Space.com, from Goddard Associate Center Director Raymond Rubilotta, who said parts of the Master Plan would be fast-tracked from 20 years to six months.

“Beginning Wednesday, Sept. 24, we will initiate a series of moves at both campuses that will reduce our footprint into fewer buildings,” Rubilotta said in the email. “All planned moves will take place over the next several months and will be completed by March of 2026.”

In an emailed statement to Space.com, acting Goddard Director Cynthia Simmons pushed back on the perception that the moves are part of some subversive, accelerated strategy. “GSFC has had a longstanding plan to consolidate its footprint at its multiple campuses, formulated beginning in 2017 and approved in 2019,” she said, adding, “implementation began earlier this year.”

Previously approved or not, the Maryland lawmakers’ letter requests analyses for projected savings from reduced utilities and maintenance, and a full accounting of how much the consolidation itself will cost to execute — a figure that may be difficult to calculate, according to Goddard employees, who say they were instructed to track their hours during the government shutdown using their regular “mission codes,” rather than the typical charge codes associated with excepted work while the federal government is closed.

One Goddard employee who spoke with Space.com on the condition of anonymity, said workers tracking hours that way “means that once the shutdown is over, any work that they worked as part of building activities will end up being charged mostly to the projects that they support,” further draining funds from missions already strained by uncertain budgetary futures.

According to Simmons, “the resulting cost savings is approximately $10 million a year and a cost avoidance of $63.8 million in deferred maintenance costs at Goddard.”

“Evidence,” she said, “of GSFC and NASA’s commitment to responsible stewardship of American taxpayer funds.”

The letter expresses concern over Goddard leadership’s decision to recall civil servants to the Greenbelt campus since Oct. 1, and echo scrutiny raised by a Nov. 10 oversight letter from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, which alleged NASA used “excepted” employee statuses to accelerate building evacuations during the shutdown. Both follow a Sept. 29 Senate Commerce report that alleged NASA has been illegally advancing elements of the FY 2026 budget request.

The lawmakers’ letter also demands a list of every facility relocation made at Goddard during 2025, including which buildings have been affected and what actions occurred inside them. They specifically ask NASA to identify all changes made since Oct. 1 — during the shutdown — and to justify why any such moves were initiated while the majority of employees were furloughed.

Simmons pushed back on implications that the campus moves are part of an alignment with the 2026 Presidential budget request (PBR). “The plans predate the FY26 PBR and all plans have been carefully coordinated with mission project managers of missions in implementation and NASA Agency leadership to ensure there is no impact to flight mission cost or schedule,” she said.

The letter asks for details on any technological capabilities that have been impacted or lost due to campus moves, such as the Goddard ElectroMagnetic Anechoic Chamber formerly housed in Building 19, impacts related to the closure of the propulsion laboratory in Building 11, and how capability losses may affect the Roman Space Telescope.

A Goddard employee, also speaking to Space.com on the condition of anonymity, said the moves have been chaotic, and that critical mission hardware is being haphazardly and improperly handled. This includes equipment with environment-specific requirements for Roman.

“The new space was not ready to receive the items, so there is hardware staged in places waiting for the space to be available,” the employee said. “This includes stuff that management originally said would go straight into a certified cleanroom, now sitting in the middle of a non-clean high bay.”

The delegation closes its letter by warning that Goddard’s scientific mission and workforce “must be sustained,” telling NASA that Congress expects full transparency about what has already taken place on the shut-down campus.