While President Donald Trump and DOGE leader Elon Musk attempt to downsize the federal government workforce and order all federal workers who remain employed to return to the office, U.S. Senator Ashley Moody (R-FL) suggested on Monday that the federal space agency NASA “tap into Florida’s talented workforce” and relocate its headquarters to the Sunshine State.
[Note: Last week the White House paused “mass firings at NASA after fears that up to 10 percent of its 18,000 federal staff were to be let go.”]
Senator Moody wrote on X: “We need to move @NASA’s headquarters to Florida’s Space Coast. The move would save taxpayers money, encourage collaboration with private space companies, and tap into Florida’s talented workforce in the aerospace industry to spur further innovation.”
We need to move @NASA’s headquarters to Florida’s Space Coast. The move would save taxpayers money, encourage collaboration with private space companies, and tap into Florida’s talented workforce in the aerospace industry to spur further innovation.
— Senator Ashley Moody (@SenAshleyMoody) February 24, 2025
West Palm Beach entrepreneur Ryan Kriser, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Space Humanity — a nonprofit organization that runs a citizen astronaut program — and a big Elon Musk fan, replied to Moody, “Absolutely!”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis agreed and wrote: “This is a no-brainer for @DOGE… Right now the Feds are planning on a building a new, expensive headquarters in DC for NASA — even though very few NASA employees have showed up to the current DC office over the past four years!”
Note: Of NASA’s 18,000 employees across the country, about 2,500 work in the DC headquarters. According to one report from RealClearPolitics, a media outlet popular with MAGA conservatives, “it is possible that under 50% of NASA employees worked on site at their Washington building.” NASA’s lease on the building expires in 2028.
This is a no-brainer for @DOGE…
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 25, 2025
Right now the Feds are planning on a building a new, expensive headquarters in DC for NASA — even though very few NASA employees have showed up to the current DC office over the past four years! https://t.co/SrmgWkpeBK
It’s not the first time DeSantis has mentioned the idea. In January, at the launch of the Florida University Space Research Consortium — a partnership between Kennedy Space Center, the University of Florida, University of Central Florida and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — DeSantis said: “There is an interest in moving the headquarters of NASA right here to Kennedy Space Center. And I’m supportive of that.”
Note: In November, NASA partnered with Elon Musk’s SpaceX on a mission to send a Dragon spacecraft filled with nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies up to the International Space Station. It was SpaceX’s 31st resupply mission to the orbital laboratory for NASA.
.jpg){kind=link}