Overview
- At a House Science Committee hearing, Republicans and Democrats rejected the FY2027 proposal to shrink NASA’s budget, predicting Congress will again refuse deep cuts as it did for FY2026.
- The request seeks a 23% agency-wide reduction, including about 47% from science and 34% from aeronautics, with funding preserved for human exploration programs.
- Advocates warned the plan would end more than 50 active science missions, erase thousands of jobs, and waste over $13 billion already spent, and 113 House members urged Congress to reject it.
- NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended program shifts such as canceling the lunar Gateway to prioritize a U.S. lunar landing, said flagship missions like the Roman Telescope and Dragonfly should continue, and argued against programs that are too costly to succeed.
- Members criticized the budget’s release during the high-profile Artemis II trip and pressed oversight concerns, as Isaacman said the FY2026 spending plan is still under White House review, pledged to follow appropriations law, and noted NASA’s STEM Engagement office remains open under current funding.