11/1/2017

COMMERCE/NASA: “Arguments over gay rights, climate change and other hot-button partisan issues sparked an escalating fight over Oklahoma GOP Rep. James Bridenstine’s bid to run the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The personal clashes and animosity that punctuated a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday [11-1-17]—highly unusual during confirmation of a NASA administrator—revealed a sharp break from the agency’s traditional insulation from ideological battles.
Instead of lawmakers tussling over spending priorities or space-exploration goals, the session was dominated by clashes over Rep. Bridenstine’s comments in previous years championing conservative social principles and questioning the primary cause of climate change. A former combat pilot with scant management experience, Rep. Bridenstine also has a record as an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, though he has pledged to strictly follow nondiscrimination laws as NASA administrator.
If he gets the job, the nominee pledged to ‘conduct myself in a very nonpartisan way doing what is in the best interests of the United States of America exclusively.’ “

-Andy Pasztor, “NASA Confirmation Hearing Takes Unusual Partisan Turn,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 1, 2017 06:18pm