Around 2,145 senior-ranking employees at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration are set to leave under a push to shed staff, Politico reported on Wednesday citing documents obtained by the news outlet.
Most employees leaving are in GS-13 to GS-15 positions, senior-level government ranks, the report said, adding that the agency has offered staff early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations.
"NASA remains committed to our mission as we work within a more prioritized budget", the agency's spokesperson Bethany Stevens told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Under President Donald Trump's administration, in recent months the U.S. space industry and NASA's workforce of 18,000 have been whipsawed by looming layoffs and proposed budget cuts that would cancel dozens of science programs, while the U.S. space agency remains without a confirmed administrator.
Trump's nominee for NASA administrator, Musk ally and billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, appeared to be an early casualty of Musk's rift with the president when the White House abruptly removed him from consideration last month, denying Musk his pick to lead the space agency.
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