After months of waiting, Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine gets the job he has long sought—that of Administrator at NASA. In doing so, he has become the first elected official to serve in the position.
The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to confirm his nomination by President Trump on a 50-49 vote as 47 Democrats and two independents were against him.
It was a strictly party-line vote as opponents charged Rep. Bridenstine would be too political in leadership of NASA.
But Bridenstine, a well-known advocate of resuming expanded space exploration had the backing of the space community. A former Navy pilot and director for 2 years of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and Planetarium, Bridenstine has made numerous calls for the U.S. to put man on the moon again.
It was in 2016 when he sponsored the American Space Renaissance Act which included directing NASA to come up with a 20-year plan of being more ambitious in space.
But he had his opponents.
“I think what’s not right for NASA is an administrator who is politically divisive and who is not prepared to be the last in line to make that fateful decision on ‘go’ or ‘no go’ for launch,” argued Sen. Nelson, a Democrat from Florida.
During his confirmation hearing, Rep. Bridenstine responded to criticism from Sen. Nelson.
“I want to make sure that NASA remains, as you said, apolitical,” he said.
As the new NASA administrator, Bridenstine will be in charge of a $20 billion budget and more than 18,000 employees. He succeeds Charles f. Bolden Jr. who resigned Jan. 20,2016 when Donald Trump became President. Since that time, longtime NASA official robert Lightfoot Jr. has been filling in as acting administrator.