Republicans Projected to Maintain Control of the House

In not unexpected news, several media outlets are reporting that Republicans will, in fact, retain control of the House.

Conventional wisdom in the last couple of weeks has been that Republicans would keep control of the House and Democrats would keep control of the Senate, with the White House up for grabs.   At this point in election day counting, that wisdom is holding for the House.  As for the Senate and White House, many states are still too close to count, although Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) reportedly has won reelection.

Pundits are asking whether House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will remain in her leadership position with the House remaining in Republican hands.   While an interesting political issue, it has little effect on space policy. 

From a space policy standpoint, the question is who will chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, which oversees space policy.   Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) has reached a term limit on that position, and while a waiver is always possible, it seems more likely that the post will go to one of three contenders — Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), or Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).   All are expected to win their contests for reelection, leaving the decision to the House Republican Caucus.