This revision adds a House Rules Committee meeting to formulate the rule for House consideration of the CJS appropriations bill on Monday, and two more hearings on Thursday (House Armed Services re export controls, and House Oversight and Investigations on Oversight of Federal Financial Management) . Check our calendar for details of these meetings. All will be held in Washington, D.C. Note that the House Science and Technology subcommittee has posted a final list of witnesses for the June 18 hearing on NASA’s budget.

A nomination hearing for Charlie Bolden and Lori Garver for the top posts at NASA is also a possibility. Check the Senate Commerce committee’s website for up-to-the-minute information. As of Sunday evening, one had not been announced.

Monday, June 15

• 5:00 pm House Rules Committee meets to formulate a rule on H.R. 2847, Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill. (It will also write the rule for the Supplemental Appropriations bill.) Room H-313, U.S. Capitol.

Tuesday, June 16

• 8:00 am Marshall Institute breakfast meeting, “Innovation in Aerospace.” National Press Club, 529 14^th Street, NW, Washington, DC. Free but reservations required
• 10:00 am House Armed Services Committee full committee markup of FY2010 DOD Authorization Bill, 2118 Rayburn

Wednesday, June 17

• 9:00 am Augustine panel on NASA’s Human Space Flight program, Carnegie Institution, 1530 P Street, NW, Washington, DC. No pre-registration required.
• TBD House of Representatives scheduled to take up the FY2010 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill (which includes NASA, NOAA and NSF)
• 2:00 pm House Science and Technology subcommittee hearing on NPOESS, 2318 Rayburn

Thursday, June 18

• 10:00 am House Science and Technology subcommittee hearing on External Views on NASA’s FY2010 Budget Request, 2318 Rayburn
• 1:00 pm AIAA symposium on Commercial Crew and Cargo Transportation, Hyatt Regency Washington hotel, Capitol Hill. Free but RSVP required.
• 2:00 pm House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on the Export Administration Act: A Review of Outstanding Policy Considerations, 2172 Rayburn.
• 2:00 pm House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing on Oversight of Federal Financial Management, 2247 Rayburn (NASA’s legislative affairs website states that NASA’s CFO Robert Spoehel will be one of the witnesses).

The House Appropriations Committee published a list of terminations and reductions in the FY2010 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill last week. A notable item was a reduction of $113.9 million for commercial crew and cargo in FY2009.

To reduce or eliminate existing appropriations is called a rescission. Just as a law must be passed to appropriate funds, a law also must be passed to rescind them. Rescissions are included in the CJS bill (see sec. 529 of the bill), but none is for NASA. Thus, the meaning of the funding cut listed by the House Appropriations Committee remains unclear. For FY2010, the committee recommends the same amount for commercial crew and cargo as was requested, $39.1 million.

For an excellent explanation of the appropriations process, including rescissions, see CRS Report 97-694, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction, by Sandy Streeter, available through the House’s website.

The report to accompany the FY2010 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations act is now available on the Web. It provides details about the committee’s decisions regarding NASA and other agencies in the bill. The bill number is H.R. 2847 and the report number is H. Rept. 111-149. Both are available through the Thomas website: http://thomas.loc.gov. Or just click here for the report. The House Rules Committee will meet tomorrow evening (Monday, June 15, at 5:00 pm) to formulate the rule for the bill. The tentative date for the bill to go to the floor is Wednesday, June 17.

The House Appropriations Committee has posted the FY2010 Commerce, Justice Science Appropriations bill (unnumbered) as ordered reported from committee, along with a summary of the bill, and a list of terminations and reductions. The committee made the following terminations and reductions to NASA for either FY2009 or FY2010:

Termination

NASA visitor centers, program terminated to support higher priorities, FY2009 -$7 million

Reductions:

NASA, Exploration: deferral pending outcome of Blue Ribbon Panel on human space flight FY2010 -$566.5 million

NASA commercial crew and cargo, program phase out FY2009 -$113.9 million

NASA, Earth science other missions and analysis: reduction reflects no need for operations for failed science mission FY2010 -$32 million

NASA institutional investments construction of facilities: reduction to support higher priority programs FY2010 -$23 mllion

NASA space and flight support: program reduction to support higher priority programs FY2010 -$17.7 million

NASA various innovative partnership programs: reduction to support higher priority programs FY2010 -$9.3 million

NASA, informal education: reduction to support higher priority programs FY2010 -$2.1 million

It’s not as though former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin shied away from speaking his mind when he was in Washington, but now that he is a professor at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, he is even more free to say what he thinks. The Associated Press printed an interview with him today, when he provides his views on the Augustine panel, Charlie Bolden as his successor, and other topics.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) told The Hill newspaper that Charlie Bolden’s nomination as NASA Administrator is likely to be voted on next week by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. She is the Ranking Member of the committee.

The committee has two nomination hearings scheduled for next Tuesday (June 16 at 10:30 and at 2:30). Gen. Bolden is not currently listed on the schedule for either, but it is possible that he could be added. It seems likely that Lori Garver’s nomination as Deputy Administrator would be considered at the same time, though it is not mentioned in the Hill’s article.