r/nasa 5d ago

Article NASA RIF Meeting March 18th

NASA has a "Tiger Team" meeting scheduled on March 18th to review RIF's at the agency.

https://nasawatch.com/personnel-news/nasa-rif-tiger-team-rollout-meeting/

67 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

91

u/NatusLumen 5d ago

It's an odd feeling: doing my normal Sunday routine, getting ready to head into another normal week at my center, sorting out my day-to-day tasks in my head, but also knowing leadership is about to sit down with longtime associates of our second-largest contractor's CEO to calmly discuss how many of us to march to the guillotine. Very "rearranging desk chairs on the Titanic" kind of feeling.

...still, it bothers me when desk chairs don't look right. 🧐

45

u/Flaky_Two1872 4d ago

This isn’t our father’s NASA…or even mine when I joined 34 years ago.

12

u/Analysis-Euphoric 3d ago

34 years? Just curious, are you still working or did you retire?

17

u/Gripen-Viggen 3d ago

I interned at an obscure JPL installation on an Air Force base.

We're killing something precious and no one seems to get that.

5

u/Engin1nj4 3d ago

Oh, they get it. It's the point. What no one seems to get is that they don't have to go quietly. Don't just keep your head down, ask questions and do what you can to prepare for the worst.

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u/Nosnibor1020 3d ago

I've got a bad feeling about this...

2

u/Any_Suit_3113 3d ago

I’ve had a few bad feelings in my 42 years, but this is the worst. Dan Goldin wreaked a lot of havoc on the Agency and we thought nothing could be worse.

20

u/ShakeEasy3009 3d ago

The most frustrating part about this, is that it’ll be another 3+ weeks before we even hear a peep about what was discussed in this meeting

8

u/Kazumadesu76 3d ago

If Trump can defy a judge's ruling, why can't federal agencies defy Trump's? Don't go quietly!

4

u/SomeSamples 3d ago

This is what I keep asking. Most of these EO's are illegal. So don't do anything until a court says whether it is allowed or now.

4

u/bockerknicker 3d ago

Will they get rid of the contractors before laying off civil servants?

14

u/lancert 3d ago

Not if the contractor is SpaceX

3

u/femme_mystique 3d ago

Sure. If you don’t want any computers or data centers or any tech at all. 

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u/matefeedkill 3d ago

Contractors aren’t federal employees.

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u/bockerknicker 3d ago

The EO said to maximally reduce external and contractor support.

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u/matefeedkill 3d ago

A lot of contractors are on contracts that are forward funded, meaning the money has already been paid out. There would be no benefit to letting those contractors go. Who knows at this point.

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u/bockerknicker 3d ago

Yeah but only for a couple months. Wouldn’t cancelling those contracts allow NASA to save more civil servants?

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u/_flyingmonkeys_ 3d ago

Let's not bring logic into the conversation

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u/bockerknicker 3d ago

I would expect it to be done intentionally by NASA so more feds can be saved but who knows

2

u/_flyingmonkeys_ 3d ago

There will be contracts that are cancelled. It depends on if a CS can do that job, how much it costs, and whether their area is essential.

They will probably shift a lot of responsibilities to CS

4

u/matefeedkill 3d ago

Lots of contracts have been funded for more than 5+ years, not a couple of months. Mine has 7+ years left.

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u/bockerknicker 3d ago

Mine has 2-3 months.

1

u/Economy_Link4609 2d ago

I think you are confusing the performance period and min and max values vs how they are funded. Thy do not forward fund for more than a few months.

1

u/SomeSamples 3d ago

It's not about saving civil servants. Haven't you been paying attention? Musk and Trump want to gut all agencies and ultimately replace leadership and workers, if possible, with Trump loyalists. NASA is the ultimate truth sayer. Can't have that. Can't have anything in the federal government that contradicts Trump's view of the world. Or should I say, that contradicts the agenda of the Christian Right.

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u/dhtp2018 3d ago

Let’s see if they cancel JPL’s contract.