By Joe Piasecki
Pasadena Sun

Addressing hundreds of Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists on Thursday, Rep.Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) vowed to wage political war against proposed NASA cuts that could slash jobs and cripple JPL's efforts to explore Mars.

JPL stands to lose millions of dollars and possibly hundreds of workers under President Obama's plan to cut more than $300 million from NASA's 2013 planetary science budget. The proposal eliminates $226 million in future Mars work, much of it at JPL, in favor of other NASA objectives.

NASA and the White House Office of Management and Budget must take a more balanced approach to cuts, Schiff said, or face a challenge during congressional budget talks later this year.

“By NASA submitting this as a fait accompli, they want to set one NASA institution against another,” Schiff said Friday. “We want every other agency and department in NASA to know they can work with us to arrive at a more balanced portfolio, but if they don't, then all bets are off.”