The leader of a labor union representing thousands of NASA scientists and engineers has hit out at NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in an ongoing dispute over the closure of the research library at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), accused Isaacman of making “patently false” statements in a Jan. 2 post in which Isaacman defended the library’s decommissioning.
Goddard has been undergoing what NASA calls a “consolidation,” reducing the footprint of the campus by closing over a dozen buildings, according to unions. The library became a focal point of attention following a Dec. 31 report by The New York Times documenting a rapid shutdown of the facility, which served as the agency’s largest research library. The report detailed the removal of vast quantities of physical materials, including unique records and journals, asserting that much of the collection was being prepared for disposal rather than being archived.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman responded to the report via a statement on X. He characterized the library’s closure as a “long-planned facilities consolidation” and rejected claims that “important scientific or historic materials” were being thrown out. Isaacman asserted that the move was consistent with former President Joe Biden’s plans for the facility and that researchers would retain access to all necessary scientific information.
In his response, released Jan. 7, Matt Biggs of the IFPTE labeled Isaacman’s comments as “misguided” and “misleading.” Biggs noted that the 2022 Goddard master plan outlining the facility’s consolidation actually called for the renovation of the library’s building, not its elimination. The statement added that because many of the materials being discarded were copyrighted or unique, they were not available in digital formats, directly contradicting Isaacman’s claim that researchers would retain access to necessary resources.
Biggs called the shutdown “rapid and haphazard,” concluding that “NASA’s scientists and engineers shouldn’t have to be dumpster divers to do their work” as the administration dismantles the agency’s scientific foundations.
Downsizing at Goddard
The dispute follows a period of volatility for Goddard and the wider agency, beginning with the fiscal year 2026 President’s Budget Request (PBR) that proposed a 24 percent cut to NASA’s overall funding and a 47 percent reduction for the Science Mission Directorate. Congress has pushed back, releasing a bill on Jan. 5 that rejects Trump’s cuts and sets aside $24.4 billion for NASA.
These fiscal pressures, amidst a government shutdown and transition in agency leadership, resulted in the departure of thousands of employees through deferred resignation programs, alongside threats of reductions in force (RIFs).
During the lapse in government appropriations, reporting and congressional correspondence indicated that the downsizing of the Goddard campus in Maryland was being accelerated. On Nov. 10, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Science Committee, wrote a letter to acting administrator Sean Duffy demanding that NASA “halt all building, laboratory, facility, and technical capability closure and relocation activities [at Goddard].” In the letter, Lofgren reported that her staff had obtained information the previous week indicating that Goddard management had set a deadline of Wednesday, Nov. 12, for employees to vacate several facilities. These deactivations included a propulsion laboratory critical to the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s next flagship space telescope.
Then, on Nov. 13, the Maryland congressional delegation issued a letter expressing concern for “actions taken during the last nine months” and seeking clarity about the events unfolding at Goddard. The lawmakers stated that these actions “threaten the workers at GSFC and their ability to lead the world in … science and exploration.” The delegation stated that “thousands of civil servants and contractors” were no longer working at the center due to “unnecessary voluntary separations” and other pressures.
On Nov. 14, IFPTE and its Goddard chapter, the Goddard Engineers, Scientists, and Technicians Association (GESTA), issued a brief alleging that the “unplanned and hasty” closure of 13 buildings would displace nearly 100 laboratories and destroy millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded facilities. The document warned that these closures, scheduled for completion by March 2026, would jeopardize strategic capabilities for missions including Artemis 3, Gateway, Dragonfly, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory.
Astronomy has reached out to NASA for comment.
