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posted by janrinok on Friday April 20 2018, @07:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the when-politics-runs-science dept.

Oklahoma Representative James Bridenstine, a Navy Reserve pilot, was confirmed as NASA's 13th administrator on Thursday.

In a 50-49 vote Thursday, Oklahoma Representative James Bridenstine, a Navy Reserve pilot, was confirmed as NASA's 13th administrator, an agency that usually is kept away from partisanship. His three predecessors — two nominated by Republicans — were all approved unanimously. Before that, one NASA chief served under three presidents, two Republicans and a Democrat.

The two days of voting were as tense as a launch countdown.

A procedural vote Wednesday initially ended in a 49-49 tie — Vice President Mike Pence, who normally breaks a tie, was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida — before Arizona Republican Jeff Flake switched from opposition to support, using his vote as leverage to address an unrelated issue.

Thursday's vote included the drama of another delayed but approving vote by Flake, a last-minute no vote by Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth — who wheeled onto the floor with her 10-day-old baby in tow — and the possibility of a tie-breaker by Pence, who was back in town.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 21 2018, @12:42PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 21 2018, @12:42PM (#670033)

    China would keep that from happening. They'll be the power of that time.

    No comment.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday April 21 2018, @02:15PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 21 2018, @02:15PM (#670042) Journal

    This is your vision of a bright future?

    Guess what buttercup? I didn't say the future would be absolutely perfect. In China's defense, they're already vastly better than they were thirty years ago, and not just in terms of economics.

    The hysteria over Islam is way misplaced. I think it's already on its way to being resolved with such things as the "Arab Spring" - it just takes time. I find it remarkable, for example, that someone can babble about a nonexistent global caliphate and completely ignore China.