Congress

Lampson: the “voice of NASA”

The Houston Chronicle reported Friday that top Democrats in the House have effectively anointed Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX) as the next chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee’s space subcommittee—provided Lampson wins reelection in November. Lampson previously stated that he was interested in the post, which will be open since the current subcommittee chairman, Mark Udall (D-CO), is running for the Senate.

The designation—which is no guarantee, the article stresses, but is unlikely not to be carried through—is intended to bolster Lampson’s chances for reelection in a district that is home to JSC but also leans Republican. The Chronicle reported earlier in the week that Lampson is also leading an effort to add $2 billion to NASA’s FY 2009 budget, through a letter signed by 30 House members to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. If he could pull off that feat, or even a smaller amount like the extra $1 billion sought in the Senate, and do so before the November election, that would probably improve his reelection odds a lot more than the promise of a subcommittee chairmanship.

2 comments to Lampson: the “voice of NASA”

  • anonymouspace

    From the article:

    “Signaling his chairmanship early puts down a marker to NASA, contractors and their families that, ‘If you want to keep your business flowing, you better take care of me,’ ” said Bob Stein, a Rice University political scientist. “Ironically, that’s a page right out of Tom DeLay’s playbook.”

    If the House leadership was really serious about Lampson winning DeLay’s old district, they’d promise Lampson a seat on the relevant appropriations subcommittee, like DeLay had. It’s much more difficult to boost NASA’s budget or bring home the bacon from the authorizing committees, even as chair.

    FWIW…

  • Charles in Houston

    Fellow Political Observers –

    Wouldn’t a declaration like that influence donors such as various Political Action Committees to donate to Lampson? That might be the intended audience.

    gratuitous disclaimer – I am a Lampson supporter

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