Congressional Space Leaders in the 118th Congress
The key players in Congress that will help shape American space policy heading into the 2024 Election.
2023 will bring many changes to NASA and the wider space industry, many stemming from turnover in Congress. A contentious election followed by a switch in partisan control in the House of Representatives has ushered a new cast of characters to the forefront of Congressional space policy.
Now that Congress is organized and working, it’s important to look at the various committees that impact NASA’s budget and priorities, as well as how new partisan dynamics could impact the budget process writ large. It’s also important to take stock of President Biden’s space policy after 2 years in office and how the new Congress may respond to his priorities.
Congressional Committees
One of the simplest ways to identify key players in Congress is to look at the relevant Committees where NASA-related work occurs.
In the House this is the Science, Space, & Technology Committee chaired by Republican Frank Lucas of Oklahoma and the Appropriations Committee chaired by Republican Kay Granger of Texas.
In the Senate this is the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee chaired by Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington, and the Appropriations Committee chaired by Democrat Patty Murray, also of Washington.
The views and priorities of these four Members of Congress will have an outsized impact on NASA in 2023.
House
Incoming Chairman Frank Lucas recently spoke with the Space Transportation Association where he outlined his vision for NASA in 2023. He reiterated the strict budget priorities of House Republicans, saying NASA’s budget would need to be appropriate and justified.
Priorities include a “comprehensive NASA authorization bill, a commercial space bill to streamline regulations, input to the research and development portion of the FAA reauthorization bill, and a NOAA… act.”
He also spoke favorably of building international alliances in space, and is a strong proponent of NASA’s Artemis Moon missions.
Chairman Lucas has sponsored legislation to upgrade the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to its own agency while separating out the Office of Space Commerce and raising its independent profile within the Commerce Department.
A group of House Republicans (including Lucas) recently wrote to NASA urging timely completion of the Near Earth Object Surveyor telescope which has been a priority of Congress for years. Expect these two items to be near the center of the Committee’s discussions this year.
It’s also important to note the bi-partisanship that exists on this committee. Chairman Lucas was highly complimentary of his Democratic predecessor Eddie Bernice-Johnson of Texas, whom he said he would miss working with and called an “exceptional’ person”. He also praised his new Democratic counterpart Zoe Loefgren of California, with whom he predicted a “great working relationship.”
As Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Kay Granger will be a major player in the budget battles that unfold this year. Space advocates should note that the Congresswoman touts her “strong support of NASA and U.S. dominance in the highest domain. She is a champion of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman on the Moon by 2024. She urged the creation of the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command, and fiercely advocates on behalf of Texas’ long standing role at the center of America’s great space program.”
As Granger sits at the center of larger budget battles and debt ceiling fights, it will be critical to keep an eye on any comments she makes on NASA’s budget.
One area Granger has already made an impact on NASA was her selection of Appropriations Subcommittees Chairs. Many expected Robert Aderholt from Alabama to Chair the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over NASA’s budget. However Hal Rogers from Kentucky was selected instead. While Rogers is a strong supporter of NASA, the move adds increased uncertainty into an already dynamic environment.
Although NASA’s budget may be in favorable hands with a bi-partisan focus at the Committee level, it remains to be seen how new Republican spending rules and the larger fiscal dynamics in the House will ultimately impact NASA’s budget this year.
Senate
Before discussing the senators that will play a role shaping NASA policy in 2023, it’s important to note who won’t be at the table this year. Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama.
The Senator was a longtime Appropriations leader and a NASA policy-making committee of 1 for much of his tenure, single-handedly directing federal investments in major projects such as the Space Launch System that brought work back to Alabama.
His successor in the Senate, Katie Britt, will likely carry on his pro-space policies, but she lacks the decades of connections or seat on the Appropriations committee that Shelby held.
The center of gravity for space policy in the Senate has shifted to the Pacific Northwest, where Democrat Maria Cantwell holds the reins of the Senate Commerce, Science, & Technology Committee. Cantwell is a strong supporter of the Artemis program and the SLS rocket, and has previously been a vocal advocate for properly passed bi-partisan NASA authorizations in the Senate. She was also a co-sponsor of the ORBITS Act which passed in 2022 and directs NASA to invest in programs to clear orbital debris.
Cantwell’s home state counterpart is Democrat Patty Murray, who is now the Chairwoman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, the same post Richard Shelby once used to protect NASA and direct money to his home state.
Murray is also a strong NASA advocate, leading 10 of her colleagues in an open letter to President Biden shortly after he took office urging him to continue funding for the Human Landing System at the center of the Artemis program.
Murray is no stranger to partisan combat in the space arena, either. When former President Trump nominated Jim Bridenstine for NASA Administrator, Murray slammed the pick as “dangerous” and was a vocal opponent of him throughout his nomination.
Strong support for NASA and the Artemis program should continue in the Senate in 2023, even without Richard Shelby at the table. How these negotiators handle conversations with their House counterparts remains to be seen.
Political Dynamics & Shutdown Risks
Perhaps the biggest risk to NASA’s budget this year is the threat of a government shutdown or protracted budget stalemate in Congress. The new Republican majority in the House has enacted new budget and spending rules that will attempt to rein in government debt spending, setting up an inevitable budget clash with the Democratic Senate and White House.
Heading into 2023, it’s appropriate to revisit the last serious shutdown in 2018 and the negative impact it had on NASA.
The 2018-2019 shutdown was the longest in history, a total of 35 days over the Christmas holiday that sent 800,000 federal workers home and cost the US economy $11 billion dollars.
NASA wasn’t spared. Up to 95% of its workforce was furloughed and sent home. The shutdown had both short- and medium-term impacts on the broader space industry as well, eliminating jobs and reducing momentum in critical sectors.
While there wasn’t a mass exodus, the agency did permanently lose staff, with then-Administrator Bridenstine saying “we did lose people — onesies and twosies — across the agency and even here at headquarters. That is absolutely true.”
The situation with NASA contractors was more complicated, with some being permanently re-assigned to non-NASA work and others never receiving back pay for time worked during the shutdown. The private sector was also hit, with some companies that were highly-dependent on NASA contracts eliminating jobs entirely.
While the private space sector is much larger that it was in early 2019, it’s still highly dependent on NASA contracts. A significant shutdown would also delay activity on numerous NASA missions that are still in development.
There is also the reality that NASA’s workforce has continued to age since 2019. Knowledge transfer and continuity of operations are absolutely essential to NASA. Critical areas such as Safety & Mission Assurance (45% of employees are eligible to retire in the next 5 years) could be vulnerable in a shutdown. Yet another protracted absence could push some employees into early retirement and impact that critical knowledge sharing and continuity.
Large ticket programs that were already funded weren’t affected in 2018 and most delays sorted themselves out within a year or two, but all delays cost NASA money. In an agency that is constantly delaying flagship programs (both the Webb and SLS missions were years behind schedule before launching) any substantive external delays could add even more time to the clock and red ink on the balance sheet.
Risk of a US government debt default is also elevated this year, and while such an action would not necessarily have an immediate direct impact on NASA it would likely be catastrophic for the US space sector. Interest rates would spike, stocks would fall, and the economic shock could wipe out 6 million jobs and eliminate $15 trillion in household wealth. The sudden onset of these conditions could be a hammer blow to space businesses, including many of those in the space sector that have sprung up in recent years. NASA’s new private sector partners would all be under intense financial pressure at the same time costs for everything in the space supply chain rise due to the onset of inflation.
NASA is (sadly) well-prepared now to manage another shutdown, with plans in place for furloughed workers. Yet no amount of planning and preparation will eliminate the very real disruptions NASA would experience under another lengthy government shutdown. The potential impacts of a debt default are even more opaque but far more severe and also bear monitoring as 2023 progresses.
Biden’s NASA Agenda
President Biden did not enter office with high expectations from the space community, with a sparse track record and uncertainty about his vision for NASA. The last two years have rewritten that story with consecutive increases in NASA’s budget and a renewed commitment to the Artemis Moon landing program.
President Biden has also found significant success advancing the Artemis Accords, the international legal framework covering NASA’s Moon missions and beyond. The framework was inaugurated during the Trump Administration and has expanded from 9 to 23 signatories during the Biden Administration.
To kick off 2023, Biden announced a significant deepening of US-Japan space ties with a new Collaboration Agreement that follows up on the 2022 announcement that Japan would contribute to NASA’s Lunar Gateway project.
How this unexpectedly robust Biden space agenda plays out with a now divided Congress may be the single most important dynamic hanging over NASA’s budget in 2023.
Final Thoughts & Future Questions
A new Congress means new uncertainty for NASA and the space industry. Watching key Committee leaders will provide insights as to how NASA funding is proceeding as a new budget cycle gets underway with complex new partisan dynamics. Everyone will be keeping a side eye on the risk of a government shutdown, particularly a protracted one that lasts weeks and causes lasting damage. How these new Congressional dynamics interact with President Biden’s space agenda remains to be seen.
A few pressing questions regarding NASA policy in Congress seem appropriate heading into 2023:
Will bi-partisanship remain the norm for NASA and space policy discussions on congressional committees, or will ever deepening partisanship seep into budget negotiations?
Will Republican commitments to budget cuts include NASA, setting up a potential conflict with the White House?
How will space policy discussions and policymaking evolve in the Senate without the presence of Senator Shelby?
Are predictions of a shutdown overblown or realistic? If a shutdown does occur, how lengthy will it be and how severe will the impact be on NASA?
Does any of this uncertainty seep out into the broader US space economy?
The answers to these questions (among others) will set the tone for NASA and the broader US space economy in 2023 and beyond.
Patrick Chase is a space writer, political junkie, and lifelong space enthusiast.
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