"The situation with the fiscal year 2026 budget for the United States is, to put it politely, kind of a mess. The White House proposed a budget earlier this year with significant cuts for a number of agencies, including NASA. In the months since then, through the appropriations process, both the House and Senate have proposed their own budget templates. However, Congress has not passed a final budget, and the new fiscal year begins on October 1."
"In the event of a shutdown, there has been much uncertainty about what would happen to NASA's budget and the agency's science missions. Earlier this summer, for example, the White House directed science mission leaders to prepare "closeout plans" for about two dozen spacecraft. These science missions were targeted for cancellation under the president's budget request for fiscal year 2026,"
The fiscal year 2026 U.S. budget remains unresolved, with the White House, House, and Senate proposing different spending templates and no final budget before October 1. Political disputes over a continuing resolution make a government shutdown increasingly likely. A shutdown would create uncertainty for NASA, leading to earlier White House directives to prepare closeout plans for roughly two dozen spacecraft targeted for cancellation. Interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy has directed the agency to implement funding at the House Appropriations Committee bill level, which provides more favorable funding than the White House proposal but does not fully restore the full science portfolio.
Read at Ars Technica
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