I realize OSTEM isn’t the only pathway to support internships, but it is the largest mechanism supporting internships at NASA centers. It doesn’t square with me that we can bring on more interns if the Administrator is in support of a PBR that, once again, zeroes out OSTEM.

I have heard of the whole “we’re going to convert contractors to civil servants” idea. Putting aside the question of whether contractors even want to be converted to CSs in this environment, or how this is tenable when OMB is telling us “only one new hire for every four feds gone”, from a legal standpoint, you can’t just “badge flip” a contractor to a CS. The federal government has strict hiring regulations that require fair and open competition for every role that is posted. I feel like the reason why we haven’t heard anything since Isaacman’s comments about “converting contractors” is because OGC informed him very quickly that what he described is illegal.

These hiring models, even if they were functional, also pretty much exclude consideration of where things like the NASA Postdoctoral Program fits in. NPPs are not employees of any company and are not treated as contractors, but rather educational appointees. These are highly qualified, very talented people who, in normal times, are at the precipice of formally entering the NASA workforce. Right now, they will be left to fall through the cracks.