The bipartisan pushback by Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (left) and Bill Nelson (right) underscores the importance of the agency to the state. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images Rubio, Nelson blast Trump’s NASA pick

Florida’s senators are voicing opposition to President Donald Trump’s pick for NASA administrator, Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine, saying a “politician” shouldn’t lead the nation’s space program.

Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson wouldn’t say whether they’d buck the president and vote against Bridenstine, who was nominated Friday. But they suggested the GOP congressman’s political past would needlessly spark a partisan fight in the Senate that could ultimately damage NASA.


Bridenstine also trashed Rubio during last year’s GOP presidential primary, although Rubio said he doesn’t hold that against the congressman.

The bipartisan pushback against Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator underscores the importance of the agency to Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Nelson, as a member of Congress, in 1986 flew on a Space Shuttle Columbia mission; he also has a home on what’s known as the state’s Space Coast.

“The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,” Nelson said in a brief written statement to POLITICO.

Nelson serves as the ranking member on the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, which oversees NASA and would hear Bridenstine’s nomination. Bridenstine’s office did not return calls seeking comment.

The White House officially announced in a statement on Friday night that Trump intended to nominate Bridenstine to the role of NASA administrator.

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Rubio said he and Nelson “share the same concerns” and worry Bridenstine’s “political baggage” would weigh him down in a GOP-led Senate that has grown increasingly resistant to Trump. NASA can’t afford that, Rubio said.

“I just think it could be devastating for the space program. Obviously, being from Florida, I’m very sensitive to anything that slows up NASA and its mission,” Rubio told POLITICO.

“It’s the one federal mission which has largely been free of politics and it’s at a critical juncture in its history,” Rubio said. “I would hate to see an administrator held up -- on [grounds of] partisanship, political arguments, past votes, or statements made in the past -- because the agency can’t afford it and it can’t afford the controversy.”

Noting NASA’s mission to Mars, Rubio said the agency is at critical moment in its history and he would prefer an administrator who has the “respect of the people who work there from a leadership and even a scientific perspective.”

Rubio said he relayed his thoughts to the White House.

Rubio said he would wait to meet with Bridenstine, a former Navy pilot who once served as director of Tulsa’s Air and Space Museum, and review his credentials before deciding how to vote.

Bridenstine was harshly critical of Rubio during the GOP presidential primary when the Oklahoma representative supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. In two ads for Cruz that suggested Rubio was weak on terror, Bridenstine also attacked Rubio’s support of comprehensive immigration reform.

"I have seen Ted Cruz stand up to both Obama and Marco Rubio, when they joined forces to provide amnesty without border security,” Bridenstine said in one of the spots. “The Rubio amnesty bill would have expanded the U.S. refugee resettlement program."

When asked about Bridenstine’s politicking against him, Rubio wisecracked that “there’s a couple people in the executive branch who didn’t always say nice things about me in a political campaign. This is largely a secondary issue. I don’t think it speaks to a person’s ability to work at NASA.”

Cristiano Lima contributed to this report.