Bill Nye warns Trump: 23% NASA budget cut would be a “huge mistake”
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Bill Nye told NBC News that Donald Trump’s proposal to cut NASA’s budget by 23% is a “huge mistake.” The proposal was introduced earlier this month amid heightened national attention on the “Artemis 2” lunar flyby mission.
Nye said: “NASA is the best brand the United States has. It is recognized around the world. The word science is in the Constitution, and that is what keeps America ahead. You cannot lead in space without leading in science. This decision is simply a mistake.”
The Trump administration had previously attempted to reduce NASA’s $24.4 billion budget by 18%, but the move was blocked by members of Congress, who approved NASA’s funding in January. Nye said the first attempt “failed immediately,” adding: “It’s not clear why this is happening again,” though the timing, coinciding with Artemis 2, appears suspicious.
Commenting on the new budget proposal, Nye criticized its drafting, saying: “Objectively, the president’s budget request this time is written in a very careless way; there are typos, they refer to 2026 instead of 2027, and some sections have been removed arbitrarily. It feels like a copy-and-paste job without attention to detail.”
Artemis 2 astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch recently launched aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft on a 10-day mission around the Moon. The mission set a record for the farthest distance a crewed spacecraft has traveled from Earth and generated widespread media attention for the U.S. space program.
Hollywood has also joined the media buzz, with Project Hail Mary star Ryan Gosling recording a video message for the astronauts ahead of the launch.
When asked about Gosling, Jeremy Hansen later said: “We were all very fortunate. During quarantine [before launch], we had the chance to watch The Hail Mary. It was really enjoyable for us that they sent a link so we could watch it at home with our families, which helped prepare us for our own space adventure. I just want to tell Ryan that art imitates science and vice versa. He did a great job in that film. Seeing people really immerse themselves in those roles is fantastic.”
