The cuts proposed yesterday by the House Appropriations Committee reportedly are not being warmly received by the conservative Tea Party Republicans in the House who promised to cut $100 billion in spending during their campaigns.

Doing the math is a problem in calculating how much of a cut was proposed, starting with the fundamental question of whether the baseline is the President’s FY2011 budget request or the FY2010 appropriated levels under which the government is currently operating based on the Continuing Resolution (CR). Appropriators used the FY2011 President’s request as their baseline, but apparently the Tea Party Republicans want the cut to be from current spending, which is the FY2010 level. If the FY2011 request is used, the House Appropriations Committee’s cuts would total $74 billion. If the FY2010 level is used, the cut is only $32 billion according to calculations by the newspaper The Hill.

Using NASA as an example, its FY2010 level is $18.724 billion, while the FY2011 request is $19.000 billion. The House appropriations committee proposed a $379 million cut to NASA’s FY2011 request, which would give the agency $18.621 billion, $103 million less than its FY2010 level. Under the Tea Party Republican approach of using the FY2010 level as the baseline, NASA would end up with $18.345 billion. Any cut would have to be absorbed in just 7 months instead of 12 months, since 5 months of FY2011 will have passed by the time the current CR expires on March 4.

Another question is whether the $100 billion cut should come only from non-security programs as recommended by the House Republican Study Committee, or if cuts to the Department of Defense, for example, can be included in the calculation. House appropriators reportedly want to include the cuts they proposed to the FY2011 request for security programs, but if the FY2010 figures are used as the baseline instead, that spending would increase.

As Republicans debate these points, the upshot is that the numbers released yesterday by the House Appropriations Committee may become only the tip of the iceberg in whatever the House passes. Politico reports that the chairs of the appropriations committee and its subcommittees “were closeted away in the Capitol, fending off talks of across-the-board cuts but also admitting they will most likely need days more to come up with an alternative.”

Across-the-board cuts are sometimes used by Congress to meet a target spending goal. Each agency is dealt with individually, but then a certain percentage cut is applied to all of them, usually to be taken at an agency’s discretion on an account-by-account basis.

What the Senate will do with whatever legislation is sent to them by the House is highly uncertain. Senators reacted cooly to the earlier-announced House cuts; deeper cuts presumably would increase their concern. With the expiration of the current CR only three weeks away, and the House and Senate scheduled to be in recess for one of those weeks (February 21-25), the clock is ticking for resolving these profound issues.

NASA cleverly designed the Stardust-NExT mission to have its encounter with comet Tempel 1 on Valentine’s Day, but that was when the President’s budget request for FY2012 was to be released a week earlier. Now, the two coincide. For those on the East Coast who are still awake near midnight on Monday and need relief from analyzing the budget request, the Tempel 1 encounter will be televised on NASA TV beginning at 8:37 pm PST (11:37 pm EST).

A press conference will be held the next day at 10:00 am PST (1:00 pm EST) at which Science Mission Directorate head Ed Weiler and three Stardust-NExT scientists — Joe Veverka of Cornell, Tim Larson of JPL, and Don Brownlee of the University of Washington-Seattle — will speak.

UPDATE: The House Appropriations Committee has now posted its “partial list of 70 spending cuts” it is proposing for the FY2011 CR. The list includes the $379 million cut to NASA reported by the National Journal, as well as a $336 million cut to NOAA’s budget, and one of the largest cuts — $1.1 billion — is from the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (the press release does not specify that it is DOE’s Office of Science, but a committee staffer confirmed that it is). NSF would also get cut by $139 million, and the National Institutes of Health by $1 billion.

ORIGINAL STORY: The document is not yet posted on the House Appropriations Committee’s website, but the National Journal (subscription required) reports that the Continuing Resolution (CR) as reported from that committee for the rest of FY2011 includes a $379 million cut to NASA. The article states:

“The spending bill will also include cuts to several of Congress’ sacred cows: a $379 million cut to the NASA; a $224 million cut to Amtrak, and a $256 million cut in assistance to state and local law enforcement.”

The cut presumably is to the FY2011 President’s budget request of $19.0 billion, which would put the agency roughly at its FY2010 level of $18.7 billion. We will provide more details when they are available.

A group of Republican lawmakers have written to the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and its Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee recommending that funds for NASA’s climate change research satellites be shifted to human spaceflight, reports Space News today.

The letter to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) reportedly was signed by Reps. Pete Olson (R-TX), Bill Posey (R-FL), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Sandy Adams (R-FL), Rob Bishop (R-UT), and Mo Brooks (R-AL). All have districts with interests in the human spaceflight program.

Many Republican Members of Congress are skeptical that climate change is human-induced and in the past have not been particularly supportive of NASA programs focused on climate change research. Recommendations to cut those programs thus are not surprising, whether the money is reallocated to other space activities or to deficit reduction.

The House Republican leadership is expected to introduce the latest Continuing Resolution (CR) later this week, perhaps Thursday, with a vote anticipated next week. The CR would cover the rest of FY2011. Overall spending for domestic discretionary spending is slated to drop by $74 billion compared to the President’s FY2011 budget request (or $32 billion compared to FY2010 spending) in whatever is introduced, but various news sources indicate that Tea Party Republicans plan to offer amendments to cut more deeply. The Republican Study Committee, for example, wants to cut $100 billion to fulfill a Republican campaign promise. Others argue that a cut of that magnitude, which would have to be absorbed with only seven months remaining in the fiscal year, is too precipitous.

The impending House cuts have received a tepid response in the Senate so far.

The following events may of interest in the coming week. For further information, check our calendar on the right menu or click the links below.

Monday-Tuesday, February 7-8

• NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Audit, Finance and Analysis Committee, NASA Headquarters, room 8D48
  • Monday, 9:00 am – 12:15 pm, 1:15 pm-5:00 pm EST
  • Tuesday, 9:00 am – 11:15 pm EST

Tuesday, February 8

• NAC Space Operations Committee, NASA Headquarters, room 7C61, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm EST
• NAC Education and Outreach Committee, NASA Headquarters, room 1Q39, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST
• NAC Commercial Space Committee, NASA Headquarters, room 1Q39, 2:00 – 3:30 pm EST (apparently this is joint with the Education and Outreach Committee, which lists an agenda item of “joint recommendation with the NAC Commercial Space Committee”)

Wednesday-Thursday, February 9-10

• FAA/AIAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC

Thursday, February 10

• Space Enterprise Council/Marshall Institute, OUTSOURCED: The Role of Commercial and International Space Capabilities in America’s National Security Space Portfolio, TechAmerica, 601 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 600-North Building, 9:00 – 11:00 am EST
• House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee hearing, oversight of NASA and NSF (witnesses are the Inspectors General of the two agencies), 10:00 am, H-309 Capitol. (This hearing is not yet posted on the committee’s website, but is listed in the National Journal’s Daybook. Note that the NASA legislative affairs website lists a March 3 hearing before this subcommittee at which NASA Administrator Bolden will testify on the FY2012 budget request.)
• House Science, Space and Technology Committee organizational meeting, 2:00 pm EST, 2318 Rayburn House Office Building

Thursday-Friday, February 10-11

• NAC, NASA Headquarters, room 9H40
  • Thursday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm EST
  • Friday, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm EST

Astronaut Mark Kelly responded to a reporter’s question today by enthusiastically saying that he expects his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), to be at Kennedy Space Center for the launch of STS-134 on April 19. Kelly is resuming his duties as commander of STS-134 while his wife recuperates from being shot in the head on January 8.

In explaining his decision to return to work, Kelly told reporters that Giffords is busy all day every day, seven days a week, with speech, occupational and physical therapy. He declined to provide any specifics about her current condition, but said she makes progress every day. He remarked on how fast she is recovering, and quoted one of her doctors as saying that she is in the one percentile group for recovering from this type of injury.

Kelly said that her family and his family are unanimously supportive of his decision. He also said that he knows his wife very well and she is strongly supportive not only of his career, but of NASA, and would want him to fly.

Peggy Whitson, chief of the astronaut office, and Brent Jett, chief of flight crew operations, emphasized that they have been observing Kelly for the past week while he resumed training to ensure that he is, in fact, ready to focus fully on a shuttle commander’s responsibilities. The decision to let him command the mission went all the way up to NASA Administrator Bolden, they said.

No need to wait for the press conference this afternoon to find out if astronaut Mark Kelly will command STS-134 or not. NASA released a press statement this morning announcing that he is resuming training as commander of the mission.

Kelly is married to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head suffered on January 8 during a constituent event in Tucson. She is in rehabilitation at a Houston facility. Kelly has been spending almost full time with her since the shooting and there was a question as to whether she would be sufficiently recovered in time for him to return to his astronaut duties.

Astronaut Mark Kelly, commander of STS-134 and husband of wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), will hold a press conference tomorrow to discuss his plans regarding the mission. A backup commander, Rick Sturckow, was named on January 13 in case Kelly is unable to fly the mission. Final word on which astronaut will be commander has been anxiously awaited. The press conference is at 2:00 pm CST (3:00 pm EST) and will be carried on NASA TV.

Astronaut office chief Peggy Whitson and Brent Jett, chief of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate, will also participate in the briefing. Kelly tweeted yesterday that his wife’s rehabilitation from a gunshot wound to the head on January 8 is going well “Today was a huge day for GG. Lots of progress.” Rep. Giffords was shot while she was holding a constituent event in Tucson, AZ. Six people were killed and 12 others were wounded.

Mark Kelly’s twin brother, Scott Kelly, is currently one of the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). STS-134 is currently slated for launch in April.

Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the National Journal (subscription required) today that he expects a need for another short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) instead of a CR to cover the remaining seven months of FY2011. The Senator made his comments after the chairmen of the House Budget and Appropriations committees revealed the level of cuts they are proposing for the rest of the current fiscal year.

Senator Inouye pointed out that the Senate will have to carefully consider the House proposals, but will not be in session the week of February 21. The House is not in session this week, but will return next week and is expected to vote on a 7-month CR during the week of Feb. 14. With the Senate in recess the following week, however, it would not have time to consider and vote on it in time to avoid a government shutdown on March 4 when the current CR expires, Inouye explained. The top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thad Cochran (R-MS), told the publication that he needs to study the House proposal more, too.

Other Democratic and Republican Senators quoted by the publication were skeptical about the House cuts being able to pass the Senate or said they needed to see the specifics before making any judgments. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), ranking Republican on the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations subcommittee, was quoted, for example, as supporting “exploring” the budget for cuts, while adding that it was necessary to “look carefully at where we can cut right now.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee announced subcommittee assignments today. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) will remain as chair of the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee that handles NASA and NOAA. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) will replace Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) as the ranking Republican on the subcommittee.

Senator Hutchison is a strong NASA supporter, particularly of its human spaceflight program, and was instrumental in passage of the 2010 NASA authorization act last year as the top Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

Shelby will become the ranking member of the Labor-HHS appropriations subcommittee and remains as a member of the CJS subcommittee. A list of all subcommittee assignments is available on the commitee’s website.