NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced Tuesday it is laying off about 550 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of a reorganization that began in July and is not tied to the current U.S. government shutdown.
JPL Director Dave Gallagher said in a statement released Monday that the reductions are aimed at "restructuring and establishing an appropriate size to ensure future success."
He noted the cuts span technical, business, and support divisions and that the steps are "essential to securing JPL's future by creating a leaner infrastructure, focusing on our core technical capabilities, maintaining fiscal discipline, and positioning us to compete in the evolving space ecosystem."
The laboratory, managed by the California Institute of Technology, is NASA's only federally funded research and development center.
It has previously carried out large-scale mission work, including all five of NASA's successful Mars rovers.
While JPL emphasized that the layoffs are not related to the government shutdown, the timing comes during a wave of federal workforce reductions across U.S. science, technology, and administrative agencies.
Under the current shutdown triggered by Congress's failure to pass appropriations for fiscal year 2026, about 900,000 federal employees have already been furloughed or are working without pay.
In recent days, President Donald Trump's administration has initiated cuts via reductions-in-force (RIFs), affecting more than 4,000 federal employees in such departments as the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Education.
This is not the first time JPL has downsized: In February 2024, the lab laid off about 530 employees, approximately 8% of its workforce, plus 40 contractors, citing budget constraints.
NASA has already lost thousands of employees this year through buyouts, deferred resignation programs, and early-retirement incentives.
In two rounds of voluntary exit programs, nearly 3,870 NASA employees applied to leave, shrinking the agency's civil servant ranks by about 20%.
Among these departures, over 2,000 senior-level NASA staff, many holding critical technical or managerial roles, accepted buyouts or early exits in 2025.
NASA has also warned of a proposed 25% budget cut in 2026, which would eliminate more than 5,000 positions if enacted and potentially leave the agency with its smallest budget and workforce in decades.
At JPL, management said dialogues have already occurred with employees about the "challenges and hard choices ahead."
Gallagher stated that the realignment is intended to leave the lab better positioned to deliver on NASA's mission priorities.
Affected employees were expected to be notified Tuesday of their status.
The restructuring comes amid growing concern that institutional knowledge and technical capacity could be degraded across NASA and its supporting labs.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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