Rep. Chu Reacts to Jet Propulsion Laboratory Layoffs Announcement

PASADENA, CA — Today, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced the reduction of its workforce by 530 employees, or 8 percent of its total staff, through layoffs. These layoffs come after JPL exhausted measures to adjust to a lower budget directive from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the absence of a FY2024 appropriation from Congress.

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28) released the following statement:

“I'm extremely disappointed with the impending JPL layoffs announced today, and my thoughts are with the workers who will be impacted and their families. These cuts will devastate workers and Southern California in the short-term, and they hurt the long-term viability of not just our Mars Exploration Program but also many years of scientific discovery to come. I'm not done, however, helping lead the fight with my California colleagues in Congress to reverse NASA's premature and misguided budget cuts to the Mars Sample Return Mission. I'm hopeful in the coming weeks we can work to broker a deal with the Administration and Congress to restore funding to the levels necessary to rehire workers and promote the kinds of scientific discovery JPL has been on the frontlines of for decades.”

Last week, Rep. Chu helped lead a bicameral, bipartisan letter, co-signed by 43 other Members of Congress from California, to Director Shalanda Young of the White House Office of Management and Budget, urging the reversal of devastating budget cuts to the MSR mission

In November 2023, Rep. Chu helped lead a bicameral, bipartisan letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on the same matter.

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