Committee OKs NASA nomination
The nomination of U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine to lead NASA returned to the Senate on Thursday for a second committee hearing in three months.
The Tulsa Republican was not in attendance as the Senate Commerce Committee voted 14-13 along party lines to send his nomination to the full Senate, where it has faced staunch opposition from Democrats and at least one Republican, casting a cloud of uncertainty over his confirmation.
Sen. Bill Nelson, ranking Democrat on the committee, has led the opposition to Bridenstine. He reiterated his criticisms of the congressman Thursday and indicated Bridenstine’s nomination may fall short of confirmation before the full Senate.
“You can count votes. I don’t say anything is solid and sure until it actually happens but it’s my hope that, sooner or later, we can move on to a qualified candidate, who would quickly be confirmed by broad bipartisan support, as has always been the case with the NASA administrator,” Nelson said.
Several Republican senators defended Bridenstine before the confirmation vote, bemoaning what Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and the committee’s chairman, called “some delaying tactics.”
“We have been seeing a party-line Democratic wall of opposition,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “to a well-qualified veteran and, indeed, a war hero who has been nominated to be administrator of NASA. It is, unfortunately, too many of our Democratic friends putting partisan politics over the interest of America leading the world in space, over the interest of strong leadership at NASA.”
As Bridenstine seeks to become the first elected official to head the historically apolitical space agency, he has faced unyielding opposition from Democrats who both oppose his political stances and believe political figures should not head NASA. They have been joined in their opposition by Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and past target of Bridenstine’s political barbs.
“He has no experience managing a large organization or program, no background in science or engineering and a history of political divisiveness,” Nelson said. “You know the quotes that have been made (public) with the permission of Senator Rubio, about some of the divisiveness that he had encountered.”
Sen. Jim Inhofe, a fellow Tulsa Republican, praised Bridenstine and argued his political acumen would be a virtue, not a detriment, if he is administrator of NASA.
“I think anyone who takes this position as director of NASA is going to have to be someone who can speak the language of Congress; who can walk the halls, express the needs of NASA,” he said.
Supporters of Bridenstine, including the congressman himself, have dismissed claims that a political figure cannot lead NASA with a two-word refrain: James Webb. The storied NASA administrator of the Apollo era had been a longtime figure in Democratic political circles before taking over at NASA under President John F. Kennedy.
There was debate Thursday over whether NASA is ill-served under acting administrator Robert Lightfoot, who has been in the position for an unusually long tenure due to President Donald Trump’s delay in nominating a candidate and the Senate’s delay in confirming that nominee.
“We’re now entering the second year without a Senate-confirmed administrator of NASA,” Cruz said. “That is bad for the United States of America. That is bad for space, it is bad for NASA and, I will note, it is bad in particular for a number of states,” including Texas and Nelson’s state of Florida.
Nelson countered by saying Lightfoot has done “a very fine job” and NASA has progressed under his leadership.
“I can tell you that I’ve seen the president in the White House a couple times on space matters — along with the vice president— and the administration is excited about their plans for NASA. Those plans are moving ahead under the acting administrator’s leadership,” Nelson said.
Bridenstine was first nominated in September and approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on an identical 14-13 vote in November. But the full Senate did not schedule a vote on his nomination, returning it to Trump, who promptly renominated Bridenstine.
Bridenstine announced Thursday his guest at Trump’s State of the Union speech Jan. 30 will be television personality Bill Nye “The Science Guy.” He is president of the Planetary Society, a space interest and advocacy group.
Nye has been critical of Trump and conservatives in the past but, in a news release, said he has “enjoyed a productive working relationship with Congressman Bridenstine on space issues.” He urged the president to use his State of the Union to present plans for “an ambitious, science-driven” agenda of space exploration.
“The congressman is the nominee to be the next administrator of NASA,” Nye said of Bridenstine, “and as I often say, NASA is the best brand the United States has. This means that the NASA administrator not only works to advance space exploration, but serves as an informal ambassador of U.S. capability and optimism to the world.”