A group of more than 60 House members sent a letter to the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellGraham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Trump puts Supreme Court fight at center of Ohio rally The Memo: Dems face balancing act on SCOTUS fight MORE (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Chuck SchumerJacobin editor: Primarying Schumer would force him to fight Trump's SCOTUS nominee CNN's Toobin: Democrats are 'wimps' who won't 'have the guts' to add Supreme Court seats Republican senator says plans to confirm justice before election 'completely consistent with the precedent' MORE (D-N.Y.), demanding that Rep. Jim Bridenstine James (Jim) Frederick BridenstineNASA is in the market for moon rocks Overnight Defense: Trump hosts Israel, UAE, Bahrain for historic signing l Air Force reveals it secretly built and flew new fighter jet l Coronavirus creates delay in Pentagon research for alternative to 'forever chemicals' Trump offers promises for the Space Force and NASA for the second term MORE (R-Okla.) be confirmed as NASA administrator. The interesting fact about the letter is that more than a dozen Democrats signed it, knocking down one of the main arguments for blocking Bridenstine’s nomination.

Sen. Bill Nelson Clarence (Bill) William NelsonDemocrats sound alarm on possible election chaos Trump, facing trouble in Florida, goes all in NASA names DC headquarters after agency's first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson MORE (D-Fla.) said Bridenstine has been “divisive” and “partisan” as a representative from Oklahoma. The fact that Bridenstine’s fellow representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, have endorsed his nomination to head NASA would tend to contradict that excuse for blocking his nomination.

ADVERTISEMENT

The House members note in their letter that with the acting NASA administrator, Robert Lightfoot, retiring at the end of April, the space agency is faced with a leadership crisis. They tout their fellow congressman’s qualifications in glowing terms.

“Jim Bridenstine has spent the bulk of his adult life in service to his country. His background is in naval aviation, flying the E2- C Hawkeye in Afghanistan and Iraq, and later the F-18 while also serving as an instructor at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center,” the letter notes. “He has been responsible for coordinating command and control of the battlefield from an airborne platform, with thousands of lives and billions of dollars affected by his decisions. In this service to his nation he has demonstrated both the technical capacity and leadership experience necessary to lead NASA.

Bridenstine is also a graduate of Rice University and holds an MBA from Cornell, a useful thing to have in the new era of space commercial partnerships.



“As the Congressman from the 1st District of Oklahoma, Jim has been an active member of the House Space Subcommittee, distinguishing himself as one of the most engaged, passionate, and knowledgeable members of the Subcommittee,” the letter continues. “In 2015, Space News named him one of ‘five space leaders in the world making a difference in space.’ He authored several provisions in the 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act and co-authored the bipartisan American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act.”

His nomination has been endorsed by scientists, commercial space players, and even Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Bridenstine’s qualifications for NASA administrator have been noted in a previous article in the Hill, with some of the interesting ideas he has expressed for leveraging lunar resources to boost the world economy.

Ever since he was nominated last September, Bridenstine has been caught in an impasse with all 49 Senate Democrats opposed, Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioMurky TikTok deal raises questions about China's role Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Florida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic MORE (R-Fla.) echoing some of the reservations that Nelson has, and Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainBiden's six best bets in 2016 Trump states Replacing Justice Ginsburg could depend on Arizona's next senator The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Washington on edge amid SCOTUS vacancy MORE (R-Ariz.) unavailable as a result of his illness. The vote now stands 50 opposed and 49 in favor, presuming that Rubio is a no vote.

The Senate Democratic leadership is whipping a no vote on Bridenstine fairly effectively, which explains the solid wall of 49 no votes from the minority. However, a change of only one vote would lead to a narrow confirmation of the gentleman from Oklahoma.

The letter is said to be as directed to Rubio as it is the Senate leadership. If Rubio were to declare his support for Bridenstine, he would break the logjam and resolve the leadership crisis that NASA is now confronted with. The switch of a moderate Democrat such as Doug Jones of Alabama or Joe Manchin Joseph (Joe) ManchinTrump meets with potential Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett at White House Names to watch as Trump picks Ginsburg replacement on Supreme Court Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day MORE of West Virginia would also end the game of chicken that has been played between Nelson and the Senate Democrats and supporters of Bridenstine for the past six months.

NASA is now embarked on a new mission, to return human astronauts to the moon, using commercial partnerships to create a new, cis-lunar economy along the way. Bridenstine’s fellow House members from both sides of the aisle are telling their opposite numbers in the Senate that their colleague is the best person to lead that effort and that it is high time for the obstruction to end.

Mark Whittington, who writes frequently about space and politics, has published a political study of space exploration entitled Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? as well as The Moon, Mars and Beyond. He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. He is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, the LA Times, and the Washington Post, among other venues.