With the current continuing resolution (CR) funding the US government expiring on January 15, those wondering what the final fiscal year 2014 appropriations bill would look like had expected to learn more by the end of this week, in order to provide enough time to allow the House and Senate to pass the omnibus spending bills. However, it looks like people will have to wait just a little while longer.
On Thursday, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said that omnibus appropriations bill probably won’t be completed in time to pass Congress before the CR expires on the 15th. Instead, he said that a mini-CR—funding the government through the end of next week—would likely be needed to give Congress time to pass the bill, which should be ready for consideration by the 15th. Rogers declined to specify the issues that were delaying work on the appropriations bill; reports last week indicated the commerce, justice, and science section of the bill, which funds NASA, NSF, and NOAA, was one of several that had already been completed.
Since the NASA IG found that the SLS program wasted $352 million on an unneeded, duplicative SSC test stand, maybe Congress could cut the FY14 SLS budget by the same amount and redirect those funds somewhere useful.
http://nasawatch.com/archives/2014/01/oig-slaps-nasa.html
Instead of papering over pork, Congress could actually exercise its oversight function for once.
Considering NASA did not want SLS and Congress forced it I would not hold my breath.
The whole program was a directive from Congress to waste money so what’s $352M ?
Oh well.
To put the $352 million in a real space context…. That is more than NASA paid Orbital under COTS. The price of a new rocket and cargo delivery capsule.