Congress « Space Politics

Mixed messages?

By Jeff Foust on 2006 February 15 at 6:51 am ET

While the space advocacy community is talking to Congress about the FY07 NASA budget proposal, the tone of their messages is very different. The Planetary Society issued a “Take Action Alert” Tuesday, calling on its members and other interested people to contact the House Science Committee to express their opposition to cuts in science programs, […]

NASA versus law enforcement?

By Jeff Foust on 2006 February 10 at 5:11 am ET

One of the arguments made a little over a year ago as part of the reorganization of Congressional appropriations subcommittees was that by moving NASA out of the same subcommittee as the VA and HUD departments was that the space agency would no longer compete with veterans’ and housing programs for funding. That seemed to […]

DeLay to get NASA appropriations seat

By Jeff Foust on 2006 February 8 at 6:42 am ET

The Hill is reporting this morning that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who once wielded his influence to benefit NASA, will now have a new way to support the space agency: he is expected to be named today to the Science, State, Justice, Commerce subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, the subcommittee with oversight […]

Congressional reaction: from “thrilled” to “greatly concerned”

By Jeff Foust on 2006 February 6 at 7:19 pm ET

Members of Congress are starting to sound off on the FY07 NASA budget proposal, with a wide range of reactions. At one end of the spectrum is Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who is elated that the budget includes $150 million for a shuttle servicing mission to Hubble. “After years of fighting this battle, I am […]

Partners, schmartners

By Jeff Foust on 2006 February 1 at 5:50 am ET

A Florida Today article today goes over expectations regarding the FY07 NASA budget proposal, including plans not to cut the number of remaining shuttle flights. One reason forwarded for retaining the scheduled 19 or so shuttle flights is allow the shuttle to launch key modules provided by ISS partners Europe and Japan. One member of […]

Climate kerfuffle gets Congressional attention

By Jeff Foust on 2006 January 31 at 7:14 am ET

The report in Sunday’s New York Times where NASA climate scientist James Hansen claims NASA is trying to prevent him from speaking about global warming has generated a reaction in Congress. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), chairman of the House Science Committee, issued a press release Monday that contained a copy of the letter he has […]

NASA budget tension

By Jeff Foust on 2006 January 29 at 9:50 am ET

In just over a week the Bush Administration will unveil its proposed FY2007 budget, and as the Washington Post reports, that budget may not offer as much money for NASA as what Congress anticipated or authorized. There isn’t too many additional information in the article about what the administration is planning for NASA, compared to […]

Earmarks, be gone!

By Jeff Foust on 2006 January 27 at 7:12 am ET

That’s the pledge of two Republican senators, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John McCain of Arizona, who have pledged to force their Senate colleagues to vote on every earmark in the spending bills that come up this year. Earmarks have become a significant issue for the NASA budget, with dozens of small projects inserted by […]

Congressmen for Hubbard

By Jeff Foust on 2006 January 25 at 5:37 am ET

While Scott Hubbard’s departure from the top job at NASA’s Ames Research Center wasn’t a surprise—rumors that he was resigning, or being pushed out, dated back over a month—what is interesting is the support he had among members of Congress. The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that four members of Congress from the Silicon Valley […]

“The same problem as last year, but bigger”

By Jeff Foust on 2006 January 24 at 6:20 am ET

That was the takeaway message from a town hall meeting at the NASA Langley Research Center where three members of Congress answered questions from employees about the upcoming NASA budget process, according to the local newspapers the Daily Press and the Virginian-Pilot. That “problem” is funding for aeronautics, which was threatened with significant cuts in […]

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