U.S. Congress
McCain Urges Appropriators To Uphold RD-180 Ban
U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has asked the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), to reject the idea of inserting a provision into a must-pass federal spending bill that would give the U.S. military access to a controversial Russian rocket engine until an alternative becomes available.
House Schedules Vote To Override Defense Bill Veto
As expected, President Obama vetoed the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, putting several national security space-related measures in limbo.
Editorial | New Hope for Ex-Im Bank
With an already dysfunctional U.S. House of Representatives sinking deeper into chaos, a small but gutsy group of Republicans pulled an arcane procedural maneuver to force a vote as soon as Oct. 26 on reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
Commercial Space Supporter McCarthy Drops House Speaker Bid
House Majority Leader and commercial space supporter Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has taken himself out of the running to become the next House speaker.
NASA Updates Government Shutdown Plans
More than 95 percent of NASA’s workforce would be furloughed should the government shut down on Oct. 1, according to an updated agency plan, even as the chance of such a scenario decreases.
Editorial | Open Season on SpaceX
The company's congressional detractors have taken the offensive in the wake of the June 28 failure of its Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
NASA Seeks Spending Flexibility To Keep Commercial Crew on Schedule
As NASA continues to advocate for full funding of its commercial crew program in 2016, the agency is seeking flexibility for the program in an upcoming short-term spending bill to avoid the risk of further delays.
Editorial | The Price of Ideology
The space industry is beginning to feel the impact of the U.S. Export-Import Bank's authorization lapse.
Q&A with U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Science Space Subcommittee
The rise of Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) to the chairmanship of the U.S. House Science space subcommittee was an unusually fast one. The dentist-turned-politician was elected to Congress only in November, but by June had assumed leadership of the space policymaking panel, replacing Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), who took a seat on the House Appropriations Committee.
NOAA Digs In on Polar Follow-on Plan Despite Cloudy Funding Outlook
NOAA does not intend to rework its plan for developing and deploying the three polar-orbiting weather satellites Congress is refusing to fund at the level the White House requested for 2016, the agency’s top satellite official said here July 28.
Lawmakers Fret About SpaceX-led Failure Probe
A group of mostly Republican lawmakers, many of whom represent states with a United Launch Alliance presence, want to know how tough NASA and the U.S. Air Force are getting with SpaceX after a June 28 launch failure that destroyed a load of NASA cargo bound for the International Space Station.
Icy Pluto Reignites Debate about NASA Planetary Funding
Two weeks after New Horizons’ Pluto flyby, NASA planetary science funding took center stage during a July 28 House Science Committee hearing.
Mikulski Takes a Victory Lap Around Pluto
The member of Congress who played the biggest role in getting New Horizons funded and launched paid a visit to the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) on Monday (April 13) to wish the team the best for the upcoming flyby.
Editorial | Commercial Crew Relapse
Just when Congress finally seemed to be getting the message on the funding requirements of NASA’s commercial crew program come a pair of disheartening marks for the activity next year in spending bills drafted in the House and Senate.
Budgetary ‘Gimmicks’ Prompt White House Threat to Veto Defense Spending Bill
The White House has threatened to veto the defense spending bill for 2016 over provisions in the House version that the administration says are “gimmicks” being used to pay for a several programs, including missile warning satellites, that otherwise would be subject to congressionally imposed federal spending caps.
Commercial Crew Bears Brunt of Senate’s NASA Cut
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill June 11 that would leave NASA with some $239 million less than the agency says it needs for 2016, a cut that drew criticism from NASA and others in the Senate particularly for its reduction to NASA’s commercial crew program.
