Bridenstine Confirmation Update
Keith’s note: With government shut down issues and an evaporating calendar, it is unlikely that Rep. Bridenstine nomination to be NASA Administrator will come up in 2017. Right now the expected support for Rep. Bridenstine remains exactly where it has been for him (and many other Trump nominees) for many months: split along party lines. With Sen. Rubio still in the “no” column if the vote were taken today (and Sen. McCain and Sen. Cochran were well enough to be in town to vote) it is expected that Bridenstine would be confirmed 51 to 49. With a vote that is now most likely to happen in January (or later) in 2018, and the seating of Sen.-Elect Jones (D-AL), the expected vote would be 50/50 with Vice President Pence casting a tie breaking vote.
There is also an issue of the time needed for a floor debate. In the Senate 30 hours is formally set aside for confirmation of nominees. But usually the 30 hours is waived by unanimous consent or significantly shortened by agreement between Democrats and Republicans to a much more manageable period. Alas, Sen. Nelson has refused to accept any deals. As such there was simply no way to really schedule this confirmation in the remaining time that the Senate was going to be in session. More details on this issue can be found here.
Bridenstine’s nomination from the White House will have to be resubmitted for the second session of this Congress. All sources report that the Administration is still quite firmly behind Bridenstine and that this “re-nomination” is simply a matter of routine paperwork that will happen after the holidays. Whether there will need to be another confirmation hearing is unclear at this point.
The knife edge aspect of the expected vote is due to the hyper-partisan state of affairs here in Washington. Many confirmations are stalled. Contrary to some reports Bridenstine’s nomination was not delayed by Senate Republicans due to a lack of votes. Bridenstine had a narrow, but very consistent block of votes that would have led to his confirmation had the vote occurred. Under more traditional circumstances Bridenstine would have had a number of Democratic votes to confirm. If he is confirmed that bipartisan support should become evident.
It’s quite possible Senator-elect Doug Jones may not vote the party line. First, he owes Senator Shelby big time for the starting the write-in campaign by Republicans that impacted the election. Second, like Senator Shelby he needs to take care of Huntsville. Both may swing his vote.
It’s also possible, to avoid the entire issue, that he may decide to be somewhere else when the vote is taken, perhaps the smartest move for his electoral future.
I agree. Also, Shelby started out as a Democrat and he has always been supportive of Sen. Mikulski so it would not be at all surprising to see Jones vote to support Bridenstine. But then again he may want to use his first votes more strategically as a Democrat. Stay tuned.
I suppose it would be ludicrous to think Mr. Jones would vote his conscience based on the candidate’s qualifications (or lack thereof).
Not that it really matters. Trump has handed over effective control of NASA to Pence and the Space Council
There is historical precedent for this. Use Google.
And for just about any other Agency. The Big Dog can hardly do anything else. Indeed it’s the appointments that are the measure of a President.
Given VP Pence’s connections in the Senate that may turn out to be a very smart move. LBJ’s connections in the Senate, while he chaired the original Space Council, were key to helping Project Apollo get started.