Union Leader Challenges NASA Administrator Over Goddard Library Closure

The president of a labor union representing thousands of NASA scientists and engineers has publicly criticized NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman for what he called “patently false” statements regarding the closure of the research library at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Matt Biggs, who heads the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), issued a sharp rebuke on January 7 in response to Isaacman’s defense of the library’s decommissioning. The dispute has highlighted growing tensions over NASA’s ongoing facility consolidation efforts.

The controversy gained public attention following a December 31 report in The New York Times that detailed the rapid shutdown of what had been NASA’s largest research library. According to the report, vast quantities of physical materials, including unique records and journals, were being removed from the facility, with much of the collection reportedly destined for disposal rather than preservation.

Isaacman responded to these allegations on January 2 through a statement on social media platform X. He characterized the library’s closure as part of a “long-planned facilities consolidation” and denied claims that “important scientific or historic materials” were being discarded. The administrator assured that researchers would maintain access to all necessary scientific information.

Biggs countered these assertions in his response, calling Isaacman’s comments “misguided” and “misleading.” He pointed out that the 2022 Goddard master plan, which outlined the facility’s consolidation, actually called for renovation of the library building rather than its elimination. The union leader emphasized that many materials being discarded were copyrighted or unique items not available in digital formats.

“NASA’s scientists and engineers shouldn’t have to be dumpster divers to do their work,” Biggs stated, describing the shutdown as “rapid and haphazard” while accusing the administration of dismantling the agency’s scientific foundations.

The library dispute represents just one facet of broader turmoil affecting Goddard and NASA as a whole. The agency has faced significant budget pressures, including a proposed 24 percent cut to NASA’s overall funding and a 47 percent reduction for the Science Mission Directorate in the fiscal year 2026 President’s Budget Request. While Congress has pushed back with a bill allocating $24.4 billion for NASA, the financial uncertainty has contributed to organizational instability.

This fiscal pressure, combined with a government shutdown and leadership transition, reportedly led to the departure of thousands of employees through voluntary separation programs. There have also been threats of reductions in force (RIFs), according to the IFPTE.

Congressional representatives have expressed growing concern about the pace and scope of changes at Goddard. On November 10, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Science Committee, wrote to acting administrator Sean Duffy demanding that NASA halt facility closure activities at Goddard. Her letter specifically mentioned the planned shutdown of a propulsion laboratory critical to the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s next flagship space observatory.

The Maryland congressional delegation echoed these concerns in a November 13 letter seeking clarity about events at Goddard. The lawmakers warned that recent actions “threaten the workers at GSFC and their ability to lead the world in science and exploration,” noting that “thousands of civil servants and contractors” were no longer working at the center due to “unnecessary voluntary separations” and other pressures.

IFPTE and its Goddard chapter, the Goddard Engineers, Scientists, and Technicians Association, have claimed that the “unplanned and hasty” closure of 13 buildings would displace nearly 100 laboratories and destroy millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded facilities. Their November 14 brief warned that these closures, scheduled for completion by March 2026, could jeopardize strategic capabilities for several high-profile missions, including Artemis 3, Gateway, Dragonfly, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory.

NASA has not yet provided official comment on these latest developments in the ongoing dispute.