NASA eliminates chief scientist role and closes three offices under DOGE

NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro announced the agency would close its Office of the Chief Scientist, Office of Technology Policy and Strategy, and DEIA Branch, laying off 23 employees under the White House Workforce Optimization Initiative directed by DOGE. The chief scientist position had advised NASA administrators on scientific priorities for decades. Former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson publicly criticized the elimination. Congress later included a provision in the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 reinstating the role.