The Deal is Done
President Obama has signed the debt limit/deficit reduction deal. It is now the law of the land. The New York Times has a very helpful graphic of what it all means.
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:17 pm ET
Tentative Debt Limit/Deficit Reduction Agreement Reached
President Obama told the nation that agreement has been reached on raising the debt limit and reducing the deficit.
He said, however, that the deal still must be approved by Congress. The White House released a fact sheet describing the compromise. House and Senate leaders are expected to discuss it with their caucuses tomorrow.
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:17 pm ET
White House Fact Sheet on Debt LImit Deal
The White House website has a fact sheet outlining the deal that was reached last night on raising the debt limit and reducing the deficit. The House and Senate still must approve it.
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:18 pm ET
UPDATE: Events of Interest: Week of July 31-August 7, 2011
UPDATE: The LightSquared hearing on August 3 has been postponed.
The following events may be of interest in the coming week. For more information, check our calendar on the right menu or click the links below. The House and Senate are both in session this week. Times and dates for congressional activities are subject to change.
During the Week
Just like last week, the debt limit/deficit reduction debate is expected to be the all-consuming topic, at least in the early part of the week. Cautious optimism prevails that some sort of deal will be struck by Tuesday, August 2, when the Obama Administration says that the United States no longer will be able to pay all of its bills.
Meanwhile, the House is expected to continue consideration of the FY2012 Interior-Environment appropriations bill, which includes the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The House Appropriations Committee denied USGS’s proposal to take over the Landsat program completely from NASA; it already operates the existing Landsat satellites.
Sunday-Wednesday, July 31-August 3
- AIAA et al Joint Propulsion Conference, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA
Monday, August 1
- Houston Urban Debate League Space Policy Day, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm CDT
- NASA press conference on Dawn’s orbital insertion around Vesta, JPL, Pasadena, CA 12:00 noon EDT (9:00 am PDT) Watch on NASA TV
Tuesday, August 2
- NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Technology and Innovation Committee, NASA/Ames, Moffett Field, CA, 8:00 am – 2:45 pm PDT
- NAC Commercial Space Committee, NASA/Ames, 8:15 am – 2:45 pm PDT
- NAC Education & Public Outreach Committee, NASA/Ames, 8:30 am -2:45 pm PDT
Tuesday-Wednesday, August 2-3
- NAC Science Committee, NASA/Ames
- August 2, 7:30 am – 2:45 pm PDT
- August 3, 7:30 am – 11:30 pm PDT
- NAC Space Operations Committee and Exploration Committee Joint Meeting, NASA/Ames
- August 2, 8:00 am – 2:30 pm PDT
- August 3, 9:30 am – 11:30 am PDT
Wednesday, August 3
- POSTPONED: House SS&T Committee hearing on Lightsquared, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building, 10:00 am EDT
Wednesday-Friday, August 3-5
- National Research Council (NRC) committee on Space Radiation Cancer Risk Model, NRC Keck Center, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington DC. Most sessions of this meeting are closed.
Thursday, August 4
- FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) Space Operations Working Group, telecon, beginning at 1:00 pm EDT
Thursday-Friday, August 4-5
- NASA Advisory Council (NAC), NASA/Ames
- August 4, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm PDT
- August 5, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Thursday-Sunday, August 4-7
- Mars Society Convention, Embassy Suites Grapevine, Dallas, TX
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:18 pm ET
Reid Postpones Senate Vote; National Journal Reports Outlines of Compromise
Washington news sources are reporting as good news a decision by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to postpone a vote on his version of a debt limit/deficit reduction bill.
The vote had been scheduled for 1:00 am EDT Sunday (minutes from now), but will take place at 1:00 pm instead to give negotiators more time.
National Journal is reporting that a new compromise has been reached, one that President Obama rejected last weekend, but is now back on the table. According to its account (subscription required), it involves a very short-term extension of the debt limit (days, not weeks) to give Congress additional time, and then an extension that would last through 2012. It would still include creation of a special congressional committee to come up with recommendations on how to cut the deficit. That was in both the Boehner and Reid bills and is now being called a “super committee.” It would have to report by Thanksgiving on cutting $1.8 trillion over ten years on top of $1 trillion that would be cut by capping discretionary spending. No “new net tax” revenues would be part of the committee’s deliberations.
Capping discretionary spending for the next 10 years would be, of course, a serious impediment to NASA, NOAA and DOD space programs, all of which are part of the discretionary budget.
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:16 pm ET
Senate Defeats Reid Plan, All Eyes on White House Now
The Senate defeated Majority Leader Harry Reid’s attempt to bring to the floor his plan to raise the debt limit and reduce the deficit. The vote was 50-49; 60 aye votes were needed to bring the bill to the floor.
All eyes are now on the White House where the President and representatives of both parties reportedly continue to work on a compromise. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier today that a compromise was “very close,” but the New York Times quoted Senator Reid after the vote as saying a number of issues remain to be resolved.
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:17 pm ET
Congress Continues Playing Politics on Debt Limit
To the extreme dissatisfaction of House Democrats, House Republicans today brought up the text of the bill that Senator Harry Reid introduced in the Senate and defeated it to demonstrate that it does not have sufficient bipartisan support in the House to pass. However, it was brought up under a procedure that requires a two-thirds vote to pass, much more than the majority vote that is needed typically.
House Rules Committee Chairman David Drier (R-CA) said during floor debate this afternoon that House Republicans were doing this to demostrate that the Reid plan would not pass the House despite Senator Reid’s assertion that it would. The bill has not passed the Senate yet; a vote is expected in the wee hours overnight. It was introduced as a House bill and quickly moved to the floor.
Democrats pointed out that if the Boehner plan that narrowly passed the House yesterday had been brought up under the same procedure, it would not have passed either.
The upshot is that the two sides do not appear any closer to compromise than yesterday, as August 2 draws ever closer. In fact, the rhetoric seems to be heating up. Senator Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reportedly were going to meet with President Obama this afternoon.
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:13 pm ET
Obama Supports Weather Satellites as NOAA's GOES-11 Helps Injured Alaskan Hikers
President Obama included weather satellites as an example of the type of program that really does need federal funding in his speech to the nation on Monday. Weather satellites are not just critical to weather forecasting, either. As the survivors of the recent grizzly bear attack in Alaska know, NOAA’s satellites are part of the global emergency locator system for people in distress.
In a story that made national headlines, a group of seven students hiking in Alaska were attacked by a mother grizzly bear. Four of the students were injured and two required hospitalization. Other members of the group activated an emergency locator transmitter to get help. NOAA’s GOES-11 geostationary satellite picked up the signal and helped identify their location. One of Europe’s polar orbiting weather satellites further pinpointed it, allowing rescuers to reach the group about 93 miles north of Anchorage.
The United States, Canada, France and the Soviet Union decided to form the international COSPAS-SARSAT satellite-based search and rescue system in 1979. The transponders are placed on weather satellites. The system has supported more than 28,000 rescues worldwide since 1982 when the first COSPAS-SARSAT equipped satellite was launched.
On Monday, President Obama addressed the nation about the debt limit/deficit reduction stalemate. In his remarks about the need for a balanced approach to resolving those issues he said:
“We all want a government that lives within its means, but there are still things we need to pay for as a country — things like new roads and bridges; weather satellites and food inspection; services to veterans and medical research.”
The House Appropriations Committee approved significant cuts to NOAA’s satellite programs in marking up the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill on July 13. The bill has not passed the House and the Senate has not acted yet.
Last Updated: Dec 05, 2011 6:16 pm ET
Senate Committee Subpoenas NASA SLS Documents
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee subpoenaed NASA documents relating to its design of the Space Launch System (SLS) according to news reports and other sources.
Space News and NASAWatch are among the news sources reporting that the subpoena was issued. Space News says it was sent yesterday.
The bipartisan leadership of the Senate committee and its Science and Space subcommittee sent a letter to NASA in June asking for documents relating to the SLS and warned the agency that it would take further steps if the documents were not produced.
Congress directed NASA to develop a heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV) or Space Launch System (SLS) in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. The Obama Administration cancelled the Bush-era HLLV, Ares V, in its FY2011 budget request. It wanted NASA to subsidize private sector companies to build a “commercial crew” transportation system for use in low Earth orbit (LEO) while NASA developed game-changing technologies for new launch vehicles to someday take astronauts beyond LEO. Congress disagreed. The compromise in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act was for NASA to do both, but Congress feels that NASA is dragging its feet on the SLS.
NASA sent an interim report to Congress in January on the SLS, but the date for the final report continues to slip. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, who until recently indicated that the plan would be released this summer, told the House Science, Space and Technology Committee on July 12 that it may not be ready until the fall because he has asked for independent cost estimates.