News that the FY06 NASA budget will lead to significant jobs cuts at some NASA centers is (surprise!) not sitting well with some members of Congress. The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the AP report that much of Ohio’s Congressional delegation, including the state’s two Republican senators, two Republican congressmen, and all six Democratic congressmen, sent a letter to President Bush asking him to reconsider his budget plans, which would result in 700 job cuts at the Glenn Research Center. Interesting trivia: Glenn is in the district of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who made a somewhat quixotic run for the Democratic presidential nomination last year.
Meanwhile, members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation are hearing from NASA Langley employees who are worried they could be among the 1,000 jobs to be cut at the center under current plans, according to the Hampton Roads Daily Press. Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) used the opportunity to criticize the new emphasis on exploration over aeronautics: “The last I looked, Mars is not ready to attack us right now.”
