NASA Divests from Science, Not War; Your Tax Dollars Disagree
Bloomberg dutifully reports NASA's plan to 'divest or demolish nearly half of its footprint' at Goddard Spaceflight Center, citing a 'mass employee exodus' stemming from former President Trump's federal workforce shrinkage. This comes as the U.S. continues to commit billions to foreign conflicts. For perspective, the proposed FY2025 budget for NASA is $25.3 billion. Meanwhile, the U.S. has
committed over $200 billion to Ukraine since 2022 and recently approved another $14 billion in aid to Israel in 2024 (HR 815), despite ongoing humanitarian crises. It appears the American public can afford to project power globally through military might, always, but maintaining foundational scientific innovation, which directly benefits the nation, remains an optional line item. One might wonder
if the 'mass employee exodus' had anything to do with seeing their vital work devalued while taxpayer money flowed so freely elsewhere. How many Nobel Prizes could we fund for the cost of a single cluster bomb shipment?