That’s what NASA is facing with next month’s resignation of Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), according to the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill. His departure “could bolster DeLay’s opponents on space exploration” and other matters, the article claims. That’s probably a bit of a stretch, since unlike other hot-button issues (or perhaps simply “unlike hot-button issues”, since space typically isn’t one) there isn’t an anti-space lobby per se in Congress, only members less willing to advocate for increased funding for NASA. (It’s rare for NASA to come up for a major floor debate in either the House or Senate in recent years, particularly since the retirement of space station opponents Rep. Tim Roemer and Sen. Dale Bumpers several years ago.)
Regardless, his influence will be missed by the space agency. The Hill reports that Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) will take over fighting for NASA funding in the House Appropriations Committee, but Culberson has only a fraction of the influence of DeLay. Another possibility is Rep. Ken Calvert, who currently chairs the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee, and could be tapped to take the vacancy on the appropriations committee created by DeLay’s departure; DeLay said that Calvert would “probably” be on the committee during his Space Transportation Association breakfast last week.
