dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – NASA on Monday responded to questions from The Dominion Post about proposed budget cuts at the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification & Validation Facility in Fairmont – briefly explaining the “why” but not how it would be affected.
As part of an overall proposed NASA budget cut under President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request, Johnson IV&V would see its funding fall from its current $43.3 million (from FY 2024) to $13.8 million in FY 2026 – just one third of the current budget.
In its 2026 Budget Technical Supplement, the agency says, “In FY 2026, NASA plans to significantly reduce and restructure both the NASA Engineering and Safety Center and Independent Verification and Validation program as part of the effort to consolidate the overall Agency Technical Authority program. In FY 2026, NASA will allocate $9.9 million for IV&V to ensure the program can provide software assurance support to the future Moon to Mars programs.”
We asked NASA last week what the impact would be from this restructuring and reduction, in terms of employees affected and functions at the IV&V center — named for “Hidden Figure” Katherine Johnson.
In response, NASA referred us to a message from Acting Administrator Janet Petro that leads the budget request and serves as the agency’s statement on the budget request.
Petro opens saying, “The President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for NASA reflects the Trump-Vance Administration’s commitment to strengthening America’s leadership in space exploration while
exercising fiscal responsibility. With this budget, we aim to shape a Golden Age of innovation and
exploration.”
NASA pointed out the next paragraph, which notes that a budget lies behind every mission NASA undertakes.
“Refining that budget is a strategic process that requires intentional decisions, and this year is no exception,” Petro said. “With a leaner budget across all of government, we are all taking a closer look at how we work, where we invest, and how we adjust our methods to accomplish our mission.”
NASA’s answer then moved on to the IV&V budget, noting that $9.9 million figure, noting that the Moon to Mars initiatives are one of this administration’s key priorities.
“This funding will help sustain IV&V’s missions at lower cost while supporting current and future exploration objectives.” NASA said, “Our focus remains on supporting the agency’s high-priority missions and maintaining the unique capabilities that IV&V contributes to NASA’s overall success.”
NASA’s response concluded, “Beyond what is listed in the FY2026 President’s Budget Request and Technical Supplement, the agency has no further comment at this time.”
We noted previous that Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Rep. Riley Moore are both working to preserve IV&V funding.
IV&V receives funding from several NASA accounts. Funding from the Safety, Security and Mission Services account will be cut from $39.2 million to the $9.9 million mentioned above – for software assurance support for Moon and Mars programs, as mentioned above.
Funding from the Exploration account will go from $3.3 million to $2 million. Funding from the Space Operations account will go from $800,000 to $700,000.
One account source will see an increase: Science account funding will go from $0 in FY 2024 to $1.2 million for FY 2026.
