WASHINGTON, D.C. — Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida’s Republicans in Congress support relocating NASA’s DC headquarters to the Space Coast. The current DC lease ends in 2028, but currently, the agency maintains it's “not planning to build a new headquarters,” and is instead “looking at options to lease a new facility in the Washington area.”

What You Need To Know

  •  Florida Republicans support relocating NASA's headquarters, now in Washington, D.C., to the Space Coast

  •  NASA's current lease for the headquarters ends in 2028

  •  A NASA spokesperson said, “NASA is not planning to build a new headquarters. Our current lease is up in 2028, and the agency is looking at options to lease a new facility in the Washington area”

Roughly 2,500 NASA employees are based at the agency’s DC headquarters. But, as the lease on the current space winds down, Florida Republicans want to move the headquarters to the Space Coast. 

“It makes so much sense that NASA headquarters would be where we launch into the future, and I’m excited that we can win that battle and not only reduce costs for the government but also make sure that NASA headquarters are where the rockets will actually take off,” Rep. Mike Haridopolos said.

Fellow Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has also written a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to consider the proposal to do so, arguing the move “would offer significant strategic, economic, and logistical advantages” with the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station nearby.  

Florida Democrats had mixed views this week when asked about the prospect.

“My great fear is that Elon Musk is working right now to ensure that he gets additional contracts. He gets multibillion-dollar contracts from NASA and the Department of Defense,” Rep. Kathy Castor said. “I don’t think the issue right now is where the headquarters is. I think it’s the illegal shutdown of so many grants and initiatives that flow in partnership to our local communities, and then the outrageous sidelining of our public servants.” 

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Congress should make that decision.

“Obviously, there’s a possibility of more job creation and centralizing NASA in the state of Florida, but, you know, there’s a process that we go through, and it is not the president’s responsibility, or even allowed for him, to make unilateral decisions like that. Congress, through appropriations, has the power of the purse,” Wasserman Schultz said.

NASA, asked if it had any comment on the matter, responded with a statement from a spokesperson. “NASA is not planning to build a new headquarters," the statement said. "Our current lease is up in 2028, and the agency is looking at options to lease a new facility in the Washington area.”

President Trump has nominated Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and commercial astronaut, to lead NASA. He has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.