Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation voiced strong opposition to significant cuts in NASA science programs proposed by the White House. Speaking at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Steny Hoyer and Glenn Ivey, all Democrats, condemned the proposed cuts, which amount to nearly 50% of NASA’s science budget. “If you cut the science programming in half, you hurt our country in many ways,” Van Hollen stated. “You hurt our national security. You hurt our innovation economy. You hurt our leadership around the world.”
The representatives emphasized the potential advantage this would give China in space science. Van Hollen pointed out that “China is already working on mimicking the success of the US space program…So this is no time for the United States to retreat when it comes to space science.” Representative Ivey added, “Are we going to decide that we want to continue to maintain the lead in science and technology over the rest of the world, or not, because right now, China’s right at our heels…They’re pushing resources and investment far beyond what the United States is doing.”
Representative Hoyer further argued that the cuts would impact various aspects of the agency, quoting former NASA administrator Bill Nelson: “They’re going to run NASA into a very deep ditch if they proceed with this kind of savagery.” Securing enough votes to block the cuts will require bipartisan support, given the narrow Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. Senator Van Hollen highlighted a meeting with Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), expressing confidence that Republicans would recognize the detrimental effect of the cuts on national security.
The delegation's visit to Goddard, home to missions such as the Roman Space Telescope and the DAVINCI Venus probe, which are threatened by the proposed budget cuts, was at their request, not a NASA initiative. While the proposal didn't explicitly call for closing Goddard, Van Hollen noted it would “decimate” the center and have a significant negative impact on the local and regional economy.
Concerns were raised about the possibility of the budget cuts being “political retribution” against California and Maryland, both heavily Democratic states. Van Hollen affirmed that they would “make the case that political retribution has no place in the appropriations process.”