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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 Friday April 20 2018, @08:28PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 20 2018, @08:28PM (#669802)

    It should be illegal to base a vote on anything except what's in the bill being voted on.

  • (Score: 2, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Friday April 20 2018, @08:53PM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday April 20 2018, @08:53PM (#669811) Homepage Journal

    I don't call him Bill, I call him Jim.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday April 20 2018, @09:18PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Friday April 20 2018, @09:18PM (#669817)

    How could you possibly enforce that kind of rule?

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by vux984 on Friday April 20 2018, @10:07PM

    by vux984 (5045) on Friday April 20 2018, @10:07PM (#669824)

    'votes as leverage' is pretty much the basis of politics and a necessary element of reaching compromise and effective government.

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 21 2018, @07:33AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 21 2018, @07:33AM (#670000)

    It should be illegal to make sausage out of anything except the finest quality meats.

    Fixed that for you.