NASA Reverses Course on Firing 1,000 Probationary Employees

Probationary NASA workers may be sticking around, at least for now, following earlier reports that the space agency was firing more than 1,000 employees.

According to multiple reports, probationary personnel—those who were recently hired or moved to new positions—did not receive termination notices on Tuesday as they had been expecting over the weekend. The cuts were anticipated as part of a wider effort by President Donald Trump and his administration to cull the federal workforce.

NASA Watch, a blog run by former NASA employee Keith Cowing, reported that employees at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama were exempted from the firings. Anonymous sources confirmed the news out of Goddard and Marshall to SpaceNews, while an internal NASA email obtained by the Houston Chronicle said that Johnson personnel would be spared from the “impending layoff plan.”

Similarly, sources told tech website Ars Technica that multiple NASA field center directors received confirmation from the White House that probationary workers would stay on. It’s unclear whether the exemptions apply to all 10 NASA field centers, as the space agency had requested.

"NASA is working with OPM on exemptions for those in the probationary period in mission critical functions," an agency spokesperson told FLYING.

The spokesperson added that "hundreds" of employees who opted into the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer either are or will be placed on administrative leave by the end of the week.

Ars Technica estimated that number to be 750, which together with the probationary cuts would have shrunk the space agency’s civil workforce—which comprises nearly 18,000 workers—by close to 10 percent since the start of 2025. The Planetary Society swiftly decried the move and estimated it would represent the “largest involuntary workforce reduction since the end of the Apollo program.”

But something changed—and it’s unclear what.

Sources told SpaceNews that NASA may have been able to convince the White House the affected jobs were critical. Alternatively, two sources told Ars Technica that Jared Isaacman, Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, may have had something to do with it. Isaacman’s confirmation hearing in the Senate has not yet been scheduled. But he is arguably the largest private customer of SpaceX, whose CEO Elon Musk is designated a special government employee.

It appears most, if not all, probationary NASA employees kept their jobs this week. But they may not be in the clear yet.

Last week, an interim directive appeared on NASA’s website preparing its headquarters, component facilities, and technical and service support centers for a reduction in force. NASA Watch on Tuesday reported that new OPM guidance has been assigned and could be enacted as soon as Friday. Sources described the action as a “follow through on Probationary Email.”

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