U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who lost his bid to chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), will serve as vice chairman, the committee announced Jan. 8. U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), meanwhile, will return as chairman of the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee. His vice chair will be Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.).
In the Senate, Alabama’s Richard Shelby is replacing Thad Cochran of Mississippi as the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. The powerful budget-writing committee is chaired by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), a longtime NASA champion who landed the assignment in December following the death of Daniel Inouye.
