WASHINGTON — Top Democrats on the House Science Committee are accusing NASA leadership of impounding funds and taking steps to implement a budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 before Congress can act on it.
In a July 16 letter to Sean Duffy, NASA’s new acting administrator, Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), ranking members of the House Science Committee and its space subcommittee respectively, claimed the agency was taking illegal steps to impound funds already appropriated and implementing elements of a fiscal year 2026 budget proposal that appropriators in both houses of Congress appear likely to reject.
“NASA’s authority to operate – its authority to do anything at all – does not exist outside of the lawful authority granted to it by Congress,” Lofgren and Foushee wrote. “Yet recent statements by top officials at NASA suggest that the agency is attempting to override Congress’ rightful authority over NASA’s budget, and by extension, over the agency’s programs and priorities.”
They said that NASA, acting at the request of the Office of Management and Budget, has frozen $100 million of funding allocated in fiscal year 2025 for science programs at NASA, without specifying what programs or missions. That is part of a broader effort by OMB, they argued, to freeze tens of billions of dollars of funding across the government that would later be converted into a recission request.
“It should be obvious that such actions lack any authorization from Congress whatsoever and are flatly illegal,” the letter states. “In taking these steps, the Trump Administration is violating the law, the Constitution, and the fundamental checks and balances between the branches of government that have governed our nation for more than two centuries.”
Lofgren and Foushee also cited a June 25 NASA town hall where agency officials made comments suggesting they would implement cuts proposed in the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal even before Congress passed a final appropriations bill.
That included statements by Brian Hughes, NASA chief of staff, suggesting NASA would move to implement elements of the budget proposal before Congress acted. “If we were to wait for all of the congressional process to unfold and get to final resolution to make any movements or do anything, it would probably be considered irresponsible,” he said at that event.
The fiscal year 2026 budget proposal for NASA cut the agency’s budget by about $6 billion, or nearly 25%, from fiscal year 2025, which itself was a continuing resolution that held funding at 2024 levels. However, both House and Senate appropriators have drafted spending bills for 2026 that would keep NASA’s overall funding at 2025 levels, although with some shifts among accounts. That makes it unlikely the steep cuts proposed by the administration will be enacted.
The members said in the letter that they have evidence that NASA is taking steps to implement the proposal nonetheless. That included “defunding and shutting down” a project to upgrade the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument on the International Space Station. They also claimed that Hughes has informed missions identified for cancellation in the budget request to stop issuing press releases about recent accomplishments.
“This is impoundment in action, and it must stop immediately,” Lofgren and Foushee stated. “The agency must respect the Founders’ vision for the separation of powers between the different branches of government by ceasing all illegal impoundment activities in violation of Congress’ power of the purse.” They asked Duffy to issue a public statement that the agency will spend appropriated funds without impoundment.
Duffy was asked a similar question about the issue at a July 16 hearing of the House Transportation Committee by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), who chairs the House Science Committee. Duffy was testifying in his primary role as secretary of transportation, but Babin brought up Duffy’s new job as acting NASA administrator.
“I would like to have your assurance, if you can, that you will not take any actions pursuant to the fiscal year ’26 budget request until Congress acts on OMB’s proposal. And, as an example, such as layoffs, program terminations, et cetera,” Babin said.
“I am going to follow the will of Congress,” Duffy responded, but added that “I do think it’s important, and you would agree, we have to start to move forward. There are very critical timelines that we have to meet. I’m happy to work with you and your committee and the Congress to make sure we’re doing that.”