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In a Washington Post profile article, NASA deputy administrator (and current acting administrator) Fred Gregory is asked if he’d like to be Sean O’Keefe’s permanent replacement:
That’s the message the state is trying to push, NPR reported Monday, in the wake of NASA budget proposals that would cut aeronautics funding and potentially hundreds of jobs at NASA Glenn. Area politicians are fighting the cuts, and one of them, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, thinks the state is due some respect from the White House because of the 2004 election: “We have got to remind the President that Ohio was the state that put him over the top.” The Coalition for Space Exploration issued a press release Monday endorsing the FY2006 NASA budget proposal, which it calls “the responsible and appropriate level of funding necessary to maintain a balance with other national priorities, and reflects a clear set of priorities within the space agency.” The timing is a bit odd, since it comes a month after the administration released the budget—perhaps a small way to keep NASA in the minds of Congress as the FY06 budget battle starts ramping up in the weeks and months to come. Florida Today reports that the administration’s search for a new NASA administrator drags on, with no sign of an immediate selection. While the article’s subhead claims that “Experts fear delay is hurting NASA”, the only “expert” cited in the article who makes such a claim is Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), who tends a bit towards histrionics when it comes to the space agency. In the near term, at least, not having a permanent administrator (Fred Gregory is currently acting administrator) is not a serious impediment to the agency’s work, although as this interregnum stretches on, particularly as the shuttle’s return to flight approaches, it does become more of a concern. One thing the articles does do is firmly put to rest speculation that former Congressional Budget Office head Dan Crippen is being considered for the job. “I didn’t interview. I haven’t been contacted. I haven’t been asked. Nor do I expect to be asked,” he told the paper. In a Sunday editorial, Florida Today argues that the state legislature needs to “embrace Spaceport Florida Authority’s strategy for the future” to ensure the stat’s standing in the space industry given the coming end of the space shuttle program and other changes influenced by the Vision for Space Exploration. That strategy ranges from research grants to a sales tax exemption for suborbital space tourism flights. The House Science Committee announced last week that Roselee Roberts has joined the staff of the committee as designee to Rep. Ken Calvert, chairman of the space subcommittee. Roberts was formerly director of legislative affairs for Boeing, where she worked for the last 17 years; before that she worked for then-Congressman Bill Nelson. Speaking of Congressman Calvert, he will be speaking at a March 23 luncheon organized by the California Space Authority (CSA) in Los Angeles. Reservations cost $50 for CSA members and $75 for others. The conventional wisdom regarding the reorganization of the appropriations subcommittees in the House and Senate is that this is a beneficial move for NASA: no longer does the space agency have to compete with low-income housing and veterans’ programs for funding. The Commerce, Justice, and State departments all seem like easier competition for funding, the argument goes. The fact that this reorg was instigated by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a strong backer of NASA, would seem to confirm this. Taking a different viewpoint at last night’s Women in Aerospace event was Michelle Burkett, a member of the House Appropriations Committee minority staff. Back in the days of the VA-HUD-independent agencies subcommittee, she said, it was not NASA but HUD that served as “the piggy bank”, as appropriators took money from the agency, and played other accounting tricks, to fund other programs in the subcommittee. Under the new structure, she warned, State and Justice in particular may be viewed as having a higher priority for funding than NASA. Since most other agencies got a cut in the 2006 budget proposal, “those holes are going to have to be filled”, she warned, and appropriators could look to NASA to help fill them. Things may be slightly better on the Senate side, she said, since this week’s reorganization moved the State Department out of the same subcommittee NASA was moved into. (The fact that the subcommittee chair and ranking member, Sens. Shelby and Mikulski respectively, are strong NASA supporters, can’t hurt either.) On the House side Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who chairs the Science, State, Justice, and Commerce subcommittee, is a strong supporter of the Vision for Space Exploration, she said, but nonetheless “some balancing [of the budget proposal] will, in fact, happen.” She also noted that the House may revisit in the next week its new subcommittee structure, perhaps moving State out of its current subcommittee to better match the Senate’s new structure. The Senate Appropriations Committee completed a reorganization of its subcommittees yesterday that mostly, but not entirely, followed plans. The major difference between the final plan and what was reported earlier in the week is that while NASA will be moved from the VA-HUD subcommittee (which will be dissolved) to the Commerce, Justice, and State subcommittee, State will be moved out of that committee. That could cause some problems down the road reconciling the House and Senate versions of appropriations bills, since the House kept State in that subcommittee. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) will chair the new “Commerce, Justice, and Science” subcommittee; there was no formal announcement of who will be the ranking Democrat but every indication was that Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) would get the position. Women in Aerospace is holding a panel session tonight titled “The Vision for Space Exploration: Where are we now?” The panelists include:
The event starts 6 pm (networking at 5:30) at 2325 Rayburn House Office Building. It’s free for WIA members, $5 for everyone else. While the House has completed its reorganization of its appropriations committees, moving NASA into what’s widely considered to be a more favorable subcommittee, the Senate is still grappling with its own reorganization plan. CongressDaily reported Monday that a reshuffling could come as early as this week that would eliminate the VA-HUD-Independent Agencies subcommittee (but only that committee, unlike the three eliminated by the House.) As in the House proposal, NASA would move to the current Commerce, Justice, and State (CJS) subcommittee, although the article didn’t state whether the subcommittee would be renamed, as is the case on the House side. Perhaps a bigger change will be a shakeup in the leadership of the subcommittee. Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), who currently chairs the VA-HUD subcommittee, would likely move to another subcommittee that deals with transportation, treasury, and housing agencies. The current chairman of that committee, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), would likely move to the CJS subcommittee, bumping out current chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH). Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) will likely be the ranking Democrat on the new CJS subcommittee. This is good news for NASA, since both Shelby and Mikulski are strong supporters of the space agency, particularly since both have NASA centers in their home states. |
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