MD Lawmakers Slam NASA Budget Cuts
The Roman Coronagraph is integrated with the Instrument Carrier for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in October 2024. Proposed budget cuts at NASA include programs such as the telescope, which is being developed to study distant planets and galaxies. “This center is the envy of one of our greatest competitors: China. This enterprise is going to be critical as we compete with China in science and in space and in technology,” Rep. Steny H. Hoyer said. (NASA photo by Sydney Rohde)
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Maryland lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to reconsider cuts at NASA Goddard that could slash US space programs in half, reports the Baltimore Sun on MSN. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and US Reps. Glenn Ivey and Steny H. Hoyer visited the space flight center in Greenbelt, MD, on Monday. “If you cut the science programming in half, you hurt our country in many ways. You hurt our national security, you hurt our innovation, our economy. You hurt our leadership around the world,” Van Hollen said. Hoyer said that Goddard is the envy of one of America’s greatest competitors: China. “This enterprise is going to be critical as we compete with China in science and in space and in technology,” Hoyer said. “… What a penny wise and pound foolish decision that would be.”
The US Office of Management and Budget plan would give NASA’s Science Mission Directorate $3.9 billion, down from its current budget of about $7.3 billion, The Washington Post reports.
The Washington Post gave a glimpse last fall of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is aiming for launch no later than 2027. In exchange for the considerable taxpayer investment of nearly $4 billion is an instrument that can do what other telescopes can’t.
The US Defense Department is considering the withdrawal of thousands of US troops from Eastern Europe, reports NBC News. The proposal is causing concern that it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. The American units under consideration are part of the 20,000 personnel deployed in 2022 to strengthen the defenses of countries bordering Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
Legislation introduced in the House would require secondary schools to display and make accessible information regarding military recruiting during school hours, reports AOL. Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) have introduced the Engaging Next-General Leaders in Information about Service and Training Act, or ENLIST. The bill would reinforce current law that guarantees military recruiters equal access to schools as colleges and potential employers.
The US Army is stepping up recruiting efforts with its “Uncommon is Calling” campaign aimed at what it calls the new generation of prospective National Guard soldiers, reports KXAN Austin on MSN. The campaign is made up of five films featuring real soldiers in emergency scenarios based on Army National Guard missions.
Lockheed Martin is ready to help the US stand up the “Golden Dome” missile defense system, reports Seapower Magazine. “What does it mean to be ready now? I think it means we have systems that are fielded, they’re operational, they’re proven,” said Dan Tenney, a vice president with the defense contractor. “They’re actually in operation today.” In January, the White House called for America to develop its own version of Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
Derek Tournear will be reinstated as the director of the Space Development Agency after an investigation into past contracting practices involving the agency’s proliferated satellite constellation, reports Defense News. Tournear has been on administrative leave since mid-January.
US Navy CMDR Brett Robblee and Command Master Chief Felix Phillips were relieved from their positions with the Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron 4 last week, reports Navy Times, “due to a loss of confidence in their ability to perform leadership duties,” the Navy said in a brief release. The squadron is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA.
COL Susan Meyers has been fired as the commander at Pituffik Space Force base in Greenland, reports Military Times. The firing came after a visit in late March from US Vice President JD Vance. After the visit, Meyers sent an email distancing the base from comments Vance made to the service members there. Meyers was removed from her command “for loss of confidence in her ability to lead,” according to a service statement.
VADM Shoshana Chatfield was removed from her position as the US military representative to NATO’s military committee, reports CBS News. The makes Chatfield at least the ninth senior military officer forced out by the Trump administration. The military committee at NATO is made up of senior military officers, usually three-star admirals or generals, from NATO member countries who represent their chiefs of defense. Chatfield had been targeted in the past for comments she made about diversity, equity, and inclusion. In December, the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative research group, wrote that focusing on DEI policies is an impediment to national security, and Chatfield was one of eight women who made the list, Fox News reports.
The Department of Homeland Security had administered lie detector tests to about 50 staffers in recent weeks, reports WTOP News, including FEMA’s acting administrator and roughly a dozen officials at the agency, as part of an effort to root out what the department alleges are leaks of national security information.
The Space Force Command accepted delivery of the first mobile Meadowlands satellite jammer from contractor L3Harris, reports Breaking Defense. The delivery is about six months earlier than had been previously planned. Meadowlands is an upgrade to the Space Force’s first acknowledged offensive counterspace system, the Counter Communication System. The program was designed to both to increase mobility and improve the jamming capabilities of the CCS.
Anduril Industries has unveiled a new family of autonomous underwater vehicles called Copperhead, designed to meet military and commercial needs for larger fleets of uncrewed maritime vessels, reports C4ISRNET.
The Army has made changes to how its helicopters use a safety system that broadcasts aircraft location and has reduced the number of flights over Washington, DC, following a Jan. 29 collision with a passenger jet that killed 67 people, reports Army Times.
Military academies could increasingly show what President Donald Trump wants to see from public schools and colleges, report The Hill. While K-12 districts and universities are fighting back against book removals; transgender athlete bans; and the termination of DEI programs, the administration has a far freer hand at military institutions.
Students at more than a dozen Defense Department schools around the world protested last week with organized walkouts. Many of the students and their parents say the anti-DEI push is a hindrance to learning at DoD schools, reports CNN. “These kids in the [Department of Defense Education Activity] schools are taking the brunt of this administration’s decisions,” said a DoD civilian in Germany, whose child is a high school sophomore. The civilian added that while schools back in the US are insulated from some administration policy changes, DoDEA schools have no such ability.
On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union along with a group of military students and family members sued DoD over book bans and curriculum changes, reports Navy Times. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia.
As America works to be a global artificial intelligence superpower, it’s become a home to thousands of data centers, reports Maryland Matters. The US is currently home to more than 3,600 data centers, but about 80% of them are concentrated in 15 states, the Data Center Map shows. Maryland has 41 data centers.
Microsoft said it is “slowing or pausing” some of its data center construction, including a $1 billion project in Ohio, the latest sign that the demand for artificial intelligence technology that drove a massive infrastructure expansion might not need quite as many powerful computers as expected, reports The Associated Press on MSN.
The final Radio Shack store in Maryland will close its doors by the end of this month, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle. The closure of the store in Prince Frederick marks the end of an era for the electronics retailer, which has been a community staple under the ownership of the late Michael King. The store operated for more than 40 years on Solomons Island Road.
Contracts:
Fuse Integration Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded a $34,844,153 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N0042125F0484) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0042122G1002). This order provides for the delivery and demonstration of beyond line of site mesh networks and the tactical edge networking targeting in a contested long-range environment advanced network architecture solution for experimentation and developmental test events and fleet exercises in support of various platforms and configurations in assessing interoperability and resiliency with mesh networks for the Air Force. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (22.6%); China Lake, California (17%); Point Mugu, California (10.1%); Washington, DC (8.5% ); Naval Air Station Fallon, California (8.5%); Camp Pendleton, California (8.5%); Melbourne, Florida (5.6%); Shreveport, Louisiana (5.6%); Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hickman, Hawaii (3.4%); Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma (3.4%); Dyess AFB, Texas (3.4%); Andersen AFB, Guam (1.7%); and Anchorage, Alaska (1.7%), and is expected to be completed in April 2030. Fiscal 2024 research development, test and evaluation (Air Force) funds in the amount of $1,129,754 will be obligated at the time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contact action was not competed. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $52,477,321 modification (P00069) to contract W911S0-18-C-0004 to support warfighter exercises, training, and logistics. Work will be performed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 14, 2025. Fiscal 2025 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $17,128,548 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Field Directorate Office, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Acuity International LLC, Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $49,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for provide physicians and medical services. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 13, 2030. US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W91278-25-D-0030).
Accenture Federal Services LLC, Arlington, Virginia, is awarded an $18,172,477 option (P00011) for the previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract HT003823C0004. This is a 12-month option period in support of the Program Executive Office – Defense Healthcare Management Systems, Joint Operation Medicine Information Systems Program Management Office’s Globally-Integrated Medical Common Operating Picture initiative, which provides enterprise-wide real-time operational medical information. The work will primarily be performed in Arlington, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by April 17, 2026. Funding will be partially obligated upon award with fiscal 2025 operations and maintenance funds, which will expire at the end of the fiscal year, and incrementally funded with procurement and research, development, testing, and evaluation funds, which will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Defense Healthcare Management Systems Contracting Division, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded April 9, 2025)
