White House
White House memo adds low Earth orbit research as R&D priority
A White House document has included low Earth orbit research “on new platforms” as a research and development priority for the administration as NASA struggles to win congressional support for its LEO commercialization initiative.
White House withdraws nomination of FCC commissioner O’Rielly
Michael O’Rielly had been nominated in March for a new five-year term as member of the Federal Communications Commission.
NASA invited to White House to present coronavirus projects
A day after discussing the agency’s coronavirus relief work for the media, NASA took those projects to the White House for a presentation to President Donald Trump.
White House looks for international support for space resource rights
An executive order by the White House April 6 seeks to establish international support for the U.S. position that space resources can be used by companies and organizations, and to head off alternative international legal regimes.
White House warns Congress about Artemis funding
The White House warned Congress in a recent letter that without funding increases for its exploration programs, NASA won’t be able to achieve the goal of landing humans on the moon in 2024.
House passes spending bills to end shutdown
The House of Representatives, now under Democratic leadership, passed spending bills Jan. 3 that would fund government agencies that have been shut down for nearly two weeks, but the bills face a presidential veto threat.
White House report: Defense industry faces ‘unprecedented challenges,’ China’s ‘economic aggression’ a threat to national security
DoD business practices, market trends, globalization and manufacturing costs make “future access to space qualified domestic industrial sources uncertain.”
NASA to study converting centers into FFRDCs
The White House has directed NASA to study the possibility of converting one of more of its field centers into federal labs, revisiting a proposal made nearly 15 years ago.
New policy directive implements commercial space regulatory reforms
A new policy President Trump will sign May 24 will implement a series of regulatory reforms to support commercial space recommended by the National Space Council earlier this year.
New National Space Strategy emphasizes “America first” policies
A new National Space Strategy announced by the White House March 23 fits into an “America First” theme of the Trump administration, seeking to protect American interests in space through revised military space approaches and commercial regulatory reform.
White House resubmits NASA and NOAA nominations
The White House formally resubmitted nominations for leaders of both NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the Senate Jan. 8, a procedural move even as the path to their confirmations becomes narrower.
Arizona state treasurer nominated to be NASA CFO
The White House announced Nov. 29 it plans to nominate the treasurer of the state of Arizona to be NASA’s next chief financial officer.
White House nominates Bridenstine as NASA administrator
After leaving the space community waiting and wondering for months, the White House is expected to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) as NASA administrator as soon as Sept. 5.
White House selects Scott Pace to be executive secretary of the National Space Council
Pace, currently the director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, previously worked at NASA and other agencies involved with space issues before joining the Space Policy Institute.
White House not expected to rush development of new space policy
Two people who served on the NASA transition team for the Trump administration said July 11 they don’t expect the White House to rush the development of a new national space policy.
White House proposes $19.1 billion NASA budget, cuts Earth science and education
The White House’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposal seeks to cancel five NASA Earth science projects and confirms plans to shut down the agency’s education office as part of more than $560 million in cuts from 2017.
