JPL on Monday, Oct. 6, confirmed that a number of layoffs coming this month will once again hit the venerable science hub that straddles Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge.
The federal space and earth exploration and research agency did not answer how many employees would be laid off in this next round. However, JPL rebuffed recent online suggestions that they would be in the thousands.
A local watcher of the agency had reported on the website nasawatch.com that he had heard reports from talking to distressed JPL employees that there could be between 3,000 and 4,000 dismissals by Oct. 15. In an email to the blogger, JPL responded:
“The Laboratory has been very transparent in regular updates to employees that some layoffs are expected in October, but the number in your post is vastly incorrect and lacks attribution,” wrote the agency.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, in an interview Monday afternoon, also called the 3,000 to 4,000 number “vastly incorrect,” adding: “All I know is it is correct that they said layoffs would be in October,” Chu said, citing her source as Caltech lobbyists in Washington D.C.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is part of NASA but managed by Caltech, a private university based in Pasadena, is known for successfully sending probes to the surface of Mars and to Saturn’s moons. It also puts up satellites that study gases in the Earth’s atmosphere and recently Caltech scientists found high levels of lead in the air immediately after the Eaton fire on Jan. 7.
Still, the layoffs come amid an array of cuts, catalyzed by the Trump Administration, which since taking office in January has moved to reduce NASA’s budget and cut off research grants. It also comes in the wake of rounds of cuts in recent years that have substantially reduced JPL’s workforce.
On Monday, Bill Nye, nationally known as the “Science Guy,” and CEO of the Planetary Society headquartered in Pasadena, was in Washington D.C. protesting the proposed cuts, which reportedly seek to take a nearly 25% chunk out of the agency’s 2026 budget.
Science and scientific research – in particular NASA science – was at a “turning point,” Nye said at a press conference Monday on the steps of Capitol Hill.
“This is not a luxury. It is a responsibility,” he said, a reference the U.S. Constitution’s “to promote the Progress of Science,” clause.
“When it comes to exploration, there is no private option,” he added, referencing the idea that commercial companies, while they can transport people and components to space, there are no private sector substitutes for public agency such as NASA.
He said NASA science helps drive the economy and thousands of jobs.
“Cuts to NASA science will not make the U.S. stronger. Investing in it will.”
President Donald Trump threatened to lay off thousands of federal employees during the current government shutdown, now in its sixth day.
However, on Monday the White House walked back that assertion, but warned that job losses could still come if Congress does not restore federal funding, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Keith Cowing, Nasawatch.com founder and editor, said the information he received was from JPL employees whom he spoke to on the phone, many of whom were crying. He protected his sources, saying he would not name them, because they feared if anyone learned their identities they would be fired for speaking out. Many told him they heard it could be up to 4,000 employees, out of 5,500 JPL employees.
“This is what they’ve been told,” Cowing said on Monday afternoon.
Trump administration officials say the proposed NASA budget “revitalizes human space exploration,” emphasizing Moon and Mars exploration “with a fiscally responsible portfolio of missions.”
Administration officials say the plan minimizes duplication of efforts within the agency while more efficiently allocating taxpayer money.
But that message faced pushback Monday in a region where JPL has thrived for decades.
Chu called any additional layoffs, including those that already hit JPL, “tragic” and that despite the obvious toll on those who become unemployed and their families, the layoffs will damage the local economy and the world’s scientific knowledge.
“What we will lose is a whole generation of scientists who developed expertise in cutting edge space missions,” including missions that focus on Earth’s climate and air quality. She said the benefits of space missions have helped bring about on-Earth inventions, including camera phones and freeze-dried food products.
Many JPL employees live in Altadena and Pasadena. At least 200 lost their homes in the Eaton fire.
“This is a double hit for them. They are clearly suffering from the chaos of losing their homes, dealing with difficult financial issues. To have this heaped on them on top of that is cruel and unjust,” Chu said.
Chu and other members of Congress have put together a bipartisan letter asking the president and the Republican leaders in Congress to protect funding for NASA missions and scientists, as well as scientists who work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which helps detect hurricanes, floods and dangerous wind storms.