David Radzanowski Nominated to be NASA CFO

The White House nominated Dave Radzanowski to be NASA’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) today.  If confirmed, he would succeed Beth Robinson who is awaiting confirmation herself as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy.

Radzanowski, or Radz as he is often called, is currently NASA Chief of Staff.  Prior to that, he was Deputy Associate Administrator for Program Integration for the Space Operations Mission Directorate.

Prior to joining NASA in 2006, Radzanowski was Branch Chief for Science and Space at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  Before that, he was a space policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the non-partisan research and analysis arm of the U.S. Congress.  He holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University.

In a statement, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said “having come from the worlds of both budget and space exploration, Radz is uniquely suited to stepping into the role of NASA CFO.”

In a controversial move, the Senate voted today to change its rules so nominations like this one can be approved with a simple majority vote (51 votes) rather than a filibuster-proof 60 votes.  That could make it easier for the Robinson and Radzanowski nominations to be confirmed, but a single Senator still can place a hold on any nomination for any reason, so the timing remains up in the air.