Oklahoma Congressman Jim Bridenstine’s path to becoming the next administrator of NASA just got bumpier—-thanks to another Republican in the U.S. Senate.
Renominated this year by President Trump, Bridenstine, the Republican from Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District narrowly won approval in the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. The committee passed his nomination out on a 14-13 vote.
But now Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, another Republican, is holding up bringing the nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote, according to E and E News.
It seems Rubio has concerns that Rep. Bridenstine would politicize the agency. And Bridenstine has reached out to Sen. Rubio to try and change his mind.
“We’ve had a good conversation and I’m doing everything I can to earn his support,” said Bridenstine in a brief interview with E and E News.
Rep. Bridenstine has never had the support of Democrats in the Senate and if he is to win confirmation, he will need support from some of them.
“I know that at this point, they do not have the votes to pass him,” said Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida. “Now that is always subject to change in the future, but my interpretation of all this is that this is the last thing in the world that NASA needs. NASA has never had partisan politicians. It needs a space professional as its leader.”
Nelson has been one of the most vocal critics of the congressman and maintains several Republican Senators are not willing to support Bridenstine. He would not name them nor say exactly how many.
Bridenstine, a former Navy pilot and administrator of Tulsa’s Air and Space Museum rankled environmentalists and Democrats over his skepticism of climate change. But in recent months, he has modified his stance and recently even sought the support of Bill Nye, head of the Planetary Society. Nye, known for his love of debating climate change with skeptics, will be his guest at the coming State of the Union address.
Reports indicate the two have discussed the topic and agree it should be a priority for NASA.
“When it comes to space exploration and science, he has been a good help to me over the years,” said Bridenstine about Nye. And he added they have more in common than some think.