CLEVELAND — The White House’s proposed budget for Northeast Ohio’s NASA Glenn Research Center and the Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky calls for cutting about 554 jobs over the next year.
When compared to last year's budget, that amounts to a 38% cut of all federal NASA civil servants in the area.
Right now, NASA Glenn employs about 1,400 civil servants. This proposal calls for trimming that number to 837.
Read the budget by clicking here.
A more detailed look at that budget shows Glenn’s aeronautics program would be just about cut in half, from 399 employees to 182.
News 5 has highlighted Glenn’s aeronautics division over the years, from a push to bring back commercial supersonic flight over the continental United States to helping map out a highway in the sky as more drones and self-driving aircrafts enter the airspace.
"Cutting back on innovation we think is not only bad from a job loss perspective, but in terms of the types of innovations that NASA Glenn in particular creates, not only for the agency but for the world, has significant ramifications," Baiju Shah at the Greater Cleveland Partnership said. "NASA is one of our regional innovation superpowers. [NASA Glenn] is involved in every aspect of every NASA mission as a research center that powers all aspects of getting us to the Moon and Mars and back."
The only NASA facility hit harder than Glenn in this budget proposal in terms of staffing would be the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, which would see a 40% cut in staffing. In total, the proposed budget sees NASA's staffing going from 16,529 to 11,853.
"We’re trying to understand what was the rationale of what was agency wide is a drastic cut," Shah added. "We need to be leaders in technology."
“NASA has always been about pushing boundaries, pioneering new frontiers, and driving technological excellence," Rep. Max Miller said in a statement to News 5. "NASA's Glenn Research Center is where innovation happens. I will continue working with Governor DeWine, my colleagues in Congress, and the next administrator to expand Glenn’s footprint and propel the agency into the future.”
In an interview with News 5's John Kosich on Thursday, Senator Bernie Moreno said argued that the budget put forth by the Senate will be more favorable to NASA Glenn.
"We have amazing resources at NASA Glenn, and we're going to beef up those resources," Sen. Moreno said. "We're going to add functionality to NASA Glenn. It's been a center that's been around even before NASA was created, and we're going to make certain it has got a long thriving future."
In a statement sent Thurday, a spokesperson for Governor Mike Dewine added: “NASA Glenn is an aerospace gem of our nation. Our office is monitoring this initial proposal that is subject to change. As such, it is premature to comment.”
Earlier this year, a number of politicians made their pitch for NASA to relocate its headquarters and 1,700 employees to Northeast Ohio and the Glenn Research Center.
"If the federal government and President Trump is serious about cutting the cost of waste, fraud and abuse and how to relocate other departments and agencies throughout the rest of the country, there’s no better spot than Cleveland, Ohio," Rep. Max Miller said at an event on April 23.
"We want NASA to grow here," Governor Mike DeWine said at that same event in April.
RELATED: Ohio leaders rally to relocate NASA's headquarters to the Buckeye State
Watch that report here:
This budget proposal does not mention any plans about moving headquarters when its lease is up in Washington, D.C., in 2028, and we’re told no decision on that has been made.
A spokesperson at NASA's headquarters emphasized with News 5 that this budget is not finalized. Lawmakers are slated to review and if necessary, tweak, the budget in the coming weeks.
However, Janet Petro, NASA’s acting administrator, did say the following in the budget:
“We must continue to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. That means making strategic decisions – including scaling back or discontinuing ineffective efforts not aligned with our moon and mars exploration priorities."
News 5 has reached out to our federal lawmakers for their reaction. News 5 was unable to speak on the record with any current NASA employee, with many expressing concern over their job security.
Shah told News 5 that several local leaders, including himself, are already scheduled to meet with federal lawmakers in Washington, D.C., as part of a routine visit to talk about needs for the area, where he plans on stressing for stability and growth at NASA Glenn.
"It's not only that NASA Glenn is critical to our region and the jobs we have in our region and it's critical to the agency mission, their innovation also spurs innovation that's used more broadly," Shah added. "It doesn't make sense to us why we would be cutting innovation."
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard, on Facebook Clay LePard News 5 or email him at Clay.LePard@WEWS.com.
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