House to Take Up 2024 NASA Authorization Bill Next Week

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s schedule for floor action next week includes consideration of the 2024 NASA Authorization Act.  The bipartisan bill cleared the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee in July. Ensuring U.S. space leadership, facilitating the growth of the U.S. commercial space sector, and reaffirming support for NASA’s human spaceflight, science, aeronautics, and technology activities are the major themes.

The bill, H.R. 8958, is one of 38 on the suspension calendar for Monday, September 23. The suspension calendar is an expedited procedure for approving legislation that avoids the Rules Committee (hence “suspension of the rules”), but requires a two-thirds vote instead of a simple majority to pass. Bills considered under suspension generally are non-controversial.

The House SS&T committee unanimously approved the bill on July 10, 2024.

Authorization bills set policy and may recommend funding levels, but do not actually provide any money. Only appropriators have money to spend.

However, in this case the authorizers and appropriators are pretty much on the same page. This bill recommends $25.225 billion for FY2025, which is very close to the $25.178 billion approved by the House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) subcommittee. The only difference is the authorization bill recommends $135 million for STEM Engagement instead of the $85 million approved by CJS. Both figures are less than the $143.5 million appropriated for FY2024.

The total for NASA is less than President Biden’s request of $25.384 billion. Instead, it is a one percent increase over FY2024, which itself was a two percent cut from FY2023 because of budget caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The House has not yet voted on the CJS appropriations bill. In fact, none of the FY2025 annual funding bills has cleared Congress yet. A vote on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government open when FY2025 begins on October 1 is also expected this week after an attempt last week was defeated. Scalise’s schedule doesn’t specify when that will be considered, but it is expected early in the week so the Senate can pass it before Friday when both chambers are scheduled to recess until after the November elections.

The 139-page 2024 NASA Authorization Act essentially reaffirms support for NASA’s broad portfolio of programs — human spaceflight including Artemis as part of a Moon to Mars strategy, development of the full capabilities of the Space Launch System, the International Space Station and commercial space stations to replace it; a balanced science program with different types and classes of missions plus research and analysis grants; a strong aeronautics program particularly for hypersonics; and space technology development especially in support of lunar exploration. Support for several programs is specifically expressed albeit with caveats such as “subject to” availability of appropriations or “to the greatest extent practicable.” They include Mars Sample Return and the Chandra X-Ray telescope. NASA is assessing how to accomplish Mars Sample Return at an affordable price and plans to decommission Chandra to save money.

One notable provision is that the bill incorporates the “Wolf Amendment” that has been included in appropriations bills since 2011. Named after former Rep. Frank Wolf who chaired the CJS subcommittee at the time, it requires NASA, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and White House National Space Council, to get approval from Congress prior to entering into space cooperation with China.  By adding it to the authorization bill, NASA’s authorizing committees — House SS&T and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee — would also have a chance to weigh in on that process. The provision would only be in effect for FY2025, however.

The bill includes a “sense of Congress” section suggesting that NASA develop a celestial time standard for the Moon and other celestial bodies and requires NASA to report back in two years on its progress. Separately it requires the NASA Advisory Council to report to Congress as well as the NASA Administrator as it does now, though only until September 2028. Currently NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel is the only NASA advisory body that reports to both.

The Senate has not yet introduced a NASA authorization bill although Senate Commerce Committee leaders have said consistently they plan to do so. Time is getting short. This is the last week Congress will be in session before the elections and they have only five weeks scheduled afterwards. Any legislation that hasn’t passed by the end of a Congress dies and would have to begin again in the next Congress.

NASA authorization acts used to be enacted almost every year, but beginning in the 1990s became periodic. The most recent were passed in 2000, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2017 and 2022.  The Planetary Society has useful summaries.