Oklahoma congressman voted new NASA leader along party lines
Florida’s aerospace agency praised the long-delayed confirmation Thursday of Oklahoma Republican Congressman Jim Bridenstine as the next leader of NASA, pointing to further growth coming to the private space industry.
Space Florida officials said they anticipate Bridenstine will reinvigorate the industry, noting that he’s been hands-on in Congress.
“We look forward to working with him as the nation moves to leverage the rela- tionships between govern- ment and the private sector and between states and federal agencies,” Space Flor- ida President and CEO Frank DiBello said in a statement after the Senate confirmed Bridenstine in a vote along party lines.
“His leadership of a NASA focused on research and exploration will be critical to reinvigorating U.S. lead- ership in space by bringing the true strengths of all facets of American ingenuity together for the expansion of human activity in space,” DiBello added.
But President Donald Trump’s choice of Briden- stine for the job was controversial, drawing opposi- tion from lawmakers such as Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who as a member of Congress traveled as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Columbia in January 1986. Nelson maintained that Bridenstine is too partisan for the post.
“The NASA administrator should be a consummate space professional,” Nelson said while on the Senate floor Wednesday. “That’s what this senator wants, a space professional, not a politician as the head of NASA.”
Nelson said the administrator should also be “technically and scientifically competent and a skilled exec- utive.”
“More importantly, the administrator must be a leader who has the ability to bring us together to unite scientists and engineers and commercial space interests and policymakers and the public on a shared vision for future space exploration,” Nelson said.
N A SA’s a d min i stra tor position has been vacant since Charles Bolden, who led the agency under President Barack Obama, stepped down in January 2017. The vacancy was the longest the federal agency has gone without an administrator.
Before the confirmation vote, Gov. Rick Scott tweeted his support for Bridenstine, who was named to the job in September by Trump.
“I hope Jim Bridenstine gets confirmed,” Scott, who is running for U.S. Senate, tweeted. “It isn’t helping NASA to have obstructionist Senate Demo- crats delay the confirmation process. Like me, he served in the Navy and will fight for our space program — not just talk about helping it like so many of the career politi- cians in D.C.”
Bridenstine’s confirmation was able to advance after Republicans Jeff Flake, of Arizona, and Marco Rubio, of Florida, agreed to support the confirmation, which had been deadlocked in the Senate.
“While I wish the president would have nominated a space professional to run NASA, the unexpected April 30 retirement of the acting administrator would leave NASA, an agency whose mission is vital to Florida, with a gaping leadership void,” Rubio said in a prepared statement.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Ha- waii, called it “terrifying” to have Bridenstine in the job as the Republican is a climate-change “denier” and an doesn’t have a scientific back- ground.
“Either Mr. Bridenstine has not bothered to read up on the scientific consensus on the most pressing scien- tific issue of our generation or he does not agree with that consensus,” Schatz said on the floor. “Either explanation makes him unqualified to run NASA.”
However, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Bridenstine, who has served on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, will help bring a “renaissance” needed at NASA.
“From that pos i tion (Bridenstine’s) been a thoughtful leader on American space policy as it relates to national security, com- merce and weather fore- casting,” Lee said.
Attorneys for the now former Palm Beach Gardens police officer who shot and killed stranded motorist Corey Jones will be allowed to question a state expert for a second time ahead of a hear- ing next month to determine whether the officer qualifies for immunity under Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
A judge made the decision in a Thursday morning hear- ing in the case of Nouman Raja, who faces attempted murder and manslaughter by culpable negligence charges for the October 2015 shoot- ing death of Jones, a profes- sional drummer and housing authority building manager who was on his way home from a gig when his SUV broke down off Interstate 95 and PGA Boulevard.
Raja said he shot Jones in self-defense after the 31-year- old charged at him with a gun, but prosecutors pursued criminal charges against him after they said a recording of Jones’ roadside assistance call and other evidence proved Raja was lying about several key factors surround- ing his encounter with Jones.
One of the key arguments among attorneys in the case recently has been over which of the six shots Raja fired delivered the fatal wound to Jones.
Defense attorneys asked Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer to force prosecutors to disclose what they would plan to tell jurors about which shot it was, but prosecutors in court initially said they didn’t know which shot it was and later said the evidence appeared to show it was in the second round of three shots Raja fired.
On Thursday, defense attorneys asked Feuer to force prosecutors to give them more infor m at ion about the opinion of a police practices expert expected to testify for the state at Raja’s “stand your ground” hearing, which is set for May 7-8.
Feuer ruled that the defense will be allowed to re-interview the witness before the hearing, but asked defense attorneys to submit a list of proposed questions to the court in writing before the interview.