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NASA workers, supporters protest deep funding, staffing cuts

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NASA Needs Help, a grassroots group made up of NASA employees and supporters, gathered peacefully outside the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Monday to protest funding and staffing cuts that threaten to decimate the nation’s premier scientific institution.

Protesters chanted, “When NASA is under attack, what do we do? Rise up, fight back!” as they criticized proposed budget cuts that could slash the agency’s funding by nearly 25% and President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that strips NASA workers of their collective bargaining rights.

“NASA is a tangible product of the greatest expression of the American dream. All of humanity has mused about reaching into the stars, and through decades of unified support by Congress, by presidents and the American public, we’ve done it. Dismantling this American institution is a travesty that no one voted for,” Colette Delawalla, executive director of Stand Up for Science, said at the protest.  

“As I stand here today, the White House is tearing apart the ecosystem that has resulted in a flourishing economy, global leadership in tech and science and progress, public health efforts that save millions of lives a year, national security that keeps us safe and a rich and vibrant intellectual community and a system where kids can grow up to want to be an astronaut,” she added. 

Andrew Tennenbaum, a NASA employee, outside of NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anastasia Obis/Federal News Network)

The Trump administration has aggressively pursued funding cuts and personnel layoffs across the country’s scientific and research agencies, and NASA has become one of the biggest casualties. The agency has lost nearly 4,000 employees through the deferred resignation program – about 20% of its workforce. Now, the Trump administration has issued an executive order cancelling collective bargaining rights at multiple federal agencies, including NASA, arguing that the roles those workers perform are tied to national security. 

“NASA is not an intelligence agency. NASA is a scientific agency. And NASA workers have been collectively bargaining for decades with no harm to national security. This is just a pretext for expanding Trump’s attack on the labor movement as a whole,” Monica Gorman, area vice president of Goddard Engineers, Scientists and Technicians Association, which represents employees at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said. 

The administration’s move to cancel collective bargaining agreements is the biggest rollback of labor protections NASA employees have ever faced — the executive order impacts thousands of NASA scientists, engineers and technicians and removes union rights that protected half of the agency’s workforce for decades.

Gorman argued stripping worker’s union rights will put NASA’s mission at risk since it would make the agency’s employees less likely to “speak up and bring up inconvenient concerns.” Gorman, who serves as an operations research analyst at NASA, said it’s important for her to be able to provide independent cost estimates for NASA missions without fear of retaliation. 

“A huge part of the reason that I have that independence and that my colleagues do is that as a union represented worker, I know that I am protected from unfair retaliation. I can’t get in trouble arbitrarily when I have union rights, and now the Trump administration says I don’t have union rights anymore, and that’s supposed to make us work more efficiently,” Gorman said.

“What we’ve learned from Apollo One, from Challenger and from Columbia, is that these catastrophes don’t happen out of nowhere. People see them coming. People have concerns, and if people don’t feel safe at work, if they don’t have the trust that they can speak up and bring those concerns forward without retaliation, then those concerns get buried,” she added.

Matthew Biggs, International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers president. (Photo by Anastasia Obis/Federal News Network)

NASA’s implementation of the executive order includes terminating collective bargaining agreements with labor unions, stopping NASA’s collection of union dues on behalf of labor unions, and evicting unions from their office space. Matthew Biggs, International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers president, said NASA will be added to an ongoing lawsuit challenging the termination of collective bargaining rights later this week.

“They’re not going to eliminate us. We are going to survive. We’re going to continue to represent our members. We’re going nowhere,” Biggs said.

“Why are they doing this? Number one, they want to silence the workforce. They want to silence the workers at NASA. And it’s also a lot easier to do [reduction in force] if there’s no labor unions there to challenge them,” he added.

Fighting continuing resolution

Many of the speakers also called on Congress to pass what they called a “fighting” continuing resolution that includes protections for scientific federal agencies.

The deadline to avoid a government shutdown is fast approaching – lawmakers have until midnight on Sept. 30 to avoid a lapse in government funding. House Republicans already unveiled legislation to keep the government open through Nov. 21, but it is unclear if they have the votes to pass the bill.

Mollie Manier, an employee at National Institutes of Health, said the group wants a stopgap funding bill that does not just “keep the lights on, but includes checks on this administration’s authoritarian overreach and protections for institutions and federal workers.”

Jayrick Hayes and Ann outside of NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anastasia Obis/Federal News Network)

“We’re urging Congress to insist on a fighting CR for the long-term benefit of this nation and we as federal workers are willing to suffer some short-term pain to get it,” Manier said.

“We do not want a shutdown, but we would rather have a shutdown than the continued dismantling of our institutions and destruction of our public goods that are causing harm to the American people,” she added.

The White House’s proposed budget for NASA is $18.8 billion for fiscal 2026 — a 24% decrease from approximately $24.8 billion in 2025. The proposal targets the agency’s entire satellite program, NASA’s fundamental science research, such as astrophysics,  planetary science and heliophysics, among others. Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, called the proposal “an extinction-level event.”

Meanwhile, the House and Senate appropriations committee have advanced their versions of the annual spending bill that funds NASA — the House voted to keep NASA’s budget the same as last year, while the Senate bill would give the agency a slight increase in spending.

If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email anastasia.obis@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at (301) 830-2747.

The post NASA workers, supporters protest deep funding, staffing cuts first appeared on Federal News Network.

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Politics

Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle

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18 hours ago

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September 24, 2025

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Screencap of YouTube video.

A Black Lives Matter activist in Boston named Monica Cannon-Grant pleaded guilty to federal charges this week, admitting that she scammed donors and used their money to fund her own lavish lifestyle.

Cannon-Grant was previously held up as an admired figure. The city of Boston named her the Bostonian of the year at one point for her ‘social justice activism’ and she was even recognized by the Boston Celtics basketball team for her efforts.

She is now facing a minimum of two years in prison.

The New York Post reports:

BLM-linked activist admits conning donors to fund her lavish lifestyle

A once-celebrated Boston social activist has pleaded guilty to defrauding donors — including Black Lives Matter — out of thousands of dollars that she used as a personal piggy bank.

Monica Cannon-Grant, 44, pleaded guilty Monday to 18 counts of fraud-related crimes that she committed with her late husband while operating their Violence in Boston (VIB) activists group, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.

The activist scammed money — including $3,000 from a BLM group — while claiming it was to help feed children and run protests like one in 2020 over the murder of George Floyd and police violence.

Cannon-Grant also conned her way into getting $100,000 in federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits — which she used to pay off her personal auto loan and car insurance policy.

But she has now confessed to transferring funds to personal bank accounts to pay for rent, shopping sprees, delivery meals, visits to a nail salon — and even a summer vacation to Maryland.

Just amazing.

Here’s a local video report:

She should pay back every penny.

The post Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO)

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18 hours ago

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September 24, 2025

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As the Gateway Pundit reported yesterday, former MSNBC host and generally unhinged leftist Keith Olbermann, appeared to threaten CNN’s conservative pundit Scott Jennings on Twitter saying, ‘You’re next motherf**ker.’

Well, Olbermann may have gotten a phone call or a visit from the FBI because today he walked back those comments with a full-throated apology.

RedState has an update:

To quickly recap, Scott Jennings, a Salem Media Network radio host and conservative CNN political commentator, reacted to breaking news on Monday that Kimmel had been reinstated by tweeting, “So basically his employer suspended him for being an insensitive pr**k, and we don’t live in an authoritarian regime? Got it.”

This enraged Olbermann, who proceeded to tweet what many, including Jennings, perceived to be a threat. “You’re next, motherf**ker. But keep mugging to the camera.” Jennings tagged Patel and included a screengrab of the tweets in response.

Though the FBI hasn’t commented as to whether an investigation was launched, Olbermann ostensibly appears to have thought twice about what he tweeted and deleted, apologizing profusely in tweets posted on Tuesday and claiming what he wrote was “misinterpreted”:

See Olbermann’s tweet below:

Scott Jennings, always a class act, offered this hilarious response:

Keith Olbermann really needs help. The guy is just so out of control.

The post Keith Olbermann Backpedals Furiously With Apology for Threatening CNN’s Scott Jennings – Jennings Responds (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished

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18 hours ago

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September 24, 2025

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Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson and roommate Lance Twiggs

Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson lived with his transgender partner – a male-to-female trans named Lance “Luna” Twiggs.

The FBI used Robinson’s texts with his transgender partner to solidify that Robinson was the assassin. Lance Twiggs has not been charged with any crime; however, federal authorities are still investigating.

Last week, Utah authorities released the text exchange between Tyler Robinson and his transgender lover, Lance Twiggs, sent shortly after Kirk’s assassination.

Utah County District Attorney Jeff Gray announced seven charges against Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson. They will also be seeking the death penalty.

Robinson was charged with:

– Count 1: Aggravated murder (capital offense)
– Count 2: Felony reckless discharge of a firearm causing bodily injury
– Count 3: Felony obstruction of justice for hiding the firearm
– Count 4: Felony obstruction of justice for discarding the clothing he wore during the shooting
– Count 5: Witness tampering for asking roommate to delete incriminating messages
– Count 6: Witness temperating for demanding trans roommate stay silent, and not speak to police
– Count 7: Commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child

Jeff Gray released the chilling texts between Tyler Robinson and his “love” Lance Twiggs.

Read the text exchange here:

Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 1
Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson texts with transgender lover Lance Twiggs / 2

Lance Twiggs was reportedly cooperating with the FBI, however, according to the Daily Mail he has seemingly vanished.

“If [Lance Twiggs] ever comes back, it will be in a body bag,” a neighbor said to the Daily Mail. “That’s not a threat – I’m just saying that there are so many people who want a piece of him he’d be mad to show his face in public again. This was a generational event.”

The Daily Mail reported:

The Trans boyfriend of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin has fled their former lovenest – and locals tell the Daily Mail they never want to see him again.

Lance Twiggs, 22, was led away for questioning when police swooped on the smart three-bed condo he shared with accused gunman Tyler Robinson, 22.

Shaken neighbors say the part time plumber has not been back to the $320,000 property in St. George, Utah – one declaring: ‘Good riddance. I never want to see either of them again.’

His beaten-up Infinity compact is still parked in his space with his work gear tossed across the back seat and a sandwich wrapper and a drink on the front passenger seat.

Upstairs lights have been left on for more than a week and notes and Amazon packages are piling up outside the home owned by Twiggs’s devout Mormon family.

The post Where is Lance Twiggs? Kirk Assassin’s Transgender Lover Has Vanished appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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