WEBVTT - ICYMI: Uncertainty at NASA After Trump Pulls Musk Ally's Nomination

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<v Speaker 2>President Trump said he would name a new nominee for

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<v Speaker 2>NASA administrator, just days before billionaire Jared Isaacman, who's a

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<v Speaker 2>current pick and a close ally Elon Musk, was set

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<v Speaker 2>to face planned Senate confirmation vote. He's been a Democratic

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<v Speaker 2>donor in the past, Jarediagman has, and he's found support

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<v Speaker 2>across swaths of the space industry and in Congress, though

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<v Speaker 2>some lawmaker's voice concern over his close ties to Musk's SpaceX.

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<v Speaker 2>We got with us Lauren Grush. He's Bloomberg News space reporter.

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<v Speaker 2>She's also the author of the six The Untold Story

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<v Speaker 2>of America's first women Astrodout. She joins us from Austin, Texas. Lauren,

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<v Speaker 2>we had you on when Isaacman was chosen. This is

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<v Speaker 2>a guy who's actually been to space. He's a billionaire,

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<v Speaker 2>he knows a lot about space. He's a fighter pilot.

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<v Speaker 2>He's the CEO of SHIFT, or was at the time,

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<v Speaker 2>not anymore, the CEO of SHIFT for payments. Just remind us,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, what you spoke to us about just a

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<v Speaker 2>couple months ago when he was named NASA administrator. Just

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<v Speaker 2>remind us who he is and what experience he would

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<v Speaker 2>have brought to NASA.

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<v Speaker 3>Sure, I think when he was first announced there was

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of enthusiasm across the space industry about his

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<v Speaker 3>nomination just because of what you mentioned. He has a

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<v Speaker 3>really long and lengthy resume that comes with, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>in flight space experience. He also has a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>opinions that he voices regularly about space policy on social media.

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<v Speaker 3>He seemed to come to NASA the very clear vision

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<v Speaker 3>of what he thought the agency should be doing, how

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<v Speaker 3>it should be spending its money more efficiently. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>he had a lot of opinions about the inefficiencies of

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<v Speaker 3>the contracting process within the agency, and a lot of

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<v Speaker 3>people celebrated his nomination across the industry just because you know,

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<v Speaker 3>he did such have that you know, very intricate pedigree

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<v Speaker 3>when it came to Space and how to run the agency.

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<v Speaker 2>I do want to correct myself. I said he was

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<v Speaker 2>CEO of shift for, but he was still CEO and

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<v Speaker 2>this is actually part of the story. Taylor Lauber was

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<v Speaker 2>actually set to start a CEO of shift for to

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<v Speaker 2>take over for Isaac Menh. Now that's kind of influx

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<v Speaker 2>emily after this nomination was pulled, Right.

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<v Speaker 4>What was Trump's rationale? What do we know about why

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<v Speaker 4>he holds this nomination?

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<v Speaker 3>Right? Yeah, so the official line concerned. I think what

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<v Speaker 3>Tim said earlier about his past donations to Democrats, what's

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<v Speaker 3>and supposedly that was brought to the President's attention very recently,

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<v Speaker 3>and the fact that you know, he gave more to

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<v Speaker 3>Democrats and to say Republican donors seemed to be rubbing

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<v Speaker 3>the president the wrong way, and ultimately he hinted that

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<v Speaker 3>at that in his social post about why he had

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<v Speaker 3>tould denomination, that he was looking for someone in more

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<v Speaker 3>alignment with the White House. I think what's confusing to

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of people is that it was not a

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<v Speaker 3>secret that Jared had donated to Democrats. In fact, this

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<v Speaker 3>has been widely reported, so perhaps it is something that

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<v Speaker 3>just caught the President's attention recently, or perhaps it's you know,

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<v Speaker 3>the official line for something else, but that that is

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<v Speaker 3>kind of where the White House is pointing to as

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<v Speaker 3>to why this is happening.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's interesting to hear that. I mean, we're not

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<v Speaker 2>going to talk politics here, Lauren, but I just do

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<v Speaker 2>want to remind people that Robert F. Kennedy Junior, for example,

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<v Speaker 2>actually ran against President Trump for the twenty twenty four

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<v Speaker 2>presidency before he dropped out and aligned himself with the President.

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<v Speaker 2>You've had people such as the President himself talked during

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<v Speaker 2>the twenty sixteen election that he was he was asked

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<v Speaker 2>about this, that he had donated to Democrats right in

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<v Speaker 2>the past. And so it's an interesting explanation that we're hearing,

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<v Speaker 2>or a notable explanation that we're certainly hearing from the

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<v Speaker 2>White House. But to me, Lauren, it differs than sort

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<v Speaker 2>of other people that he staffed his cabinet with. It

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<v Speaker 2>hasn't mattered to those folks. I mean, haven't the folks

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<v Speaker 2>like having all these folks like this. A lot of

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<v Speaker 2>the Silicon Valley folks who are supportive of the President

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<v Speaker 2>now weren't supportive of him necessarily in the past right exactly.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, so there is some thought that perhaps this

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<v Speaker 3>is kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, maybe too many people with democratic ties were

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<v Speaker 3>making their way into the administration. But I think it's

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<v Speaker 3>important to think of the el of it all for

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<v Speaker 3>you know, it also comes at a time when Elon

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<v Speaker 3>Musk is very publicly ending, you know, his time at

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<v Speaker 3>h with the White House and his doge operation. And

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<v Speaker 3>Jared Eagan was very much seen as an ally of

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<v Speaker 3>Elon's because he had such close ties to SpaceX. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>He's flown twice with the company to space donated a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of money or invested a lot of money into

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<v Speaker 3>their research programs to further human spaceflight at the company.

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<v Speaker 3>So Jared was very much seen as an Elon Musk ally.

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<v Speaker 3>And so there is obviously a speculation that this was

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<v Speaker 3>kind of related to Elon's exit. Now that he's on

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<v Speaker 3>his way out the door, maybe some pushed for less ties,

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<v Speaker 3>fewer ties to Elon in the White House.

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<v Speaker 4>Hey, Lauren, So you write that the White House is

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<v Speaker 4>about face comes after President Trump released a budget plan

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<v Speaker 4>that would call for slashing NASA's budget by twenty five

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<v Speaker 4>five percent from the previous year. I'm wondering if you

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<v Speaker 4>can talk a little bit more just about like what

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<v Speaker 4>are Trump's visions for NASA right now? What is NASA

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<v Speaker 4>supposed to be doing in an ideal Trump world?

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<v Speaker 3>Right I think that's kind of the open question right

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<v Speaker 3>now among the space community. The budget proposal that the

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<v Speaker 3>White House is released would, if enacted, would be the

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<v Speaker 3>largest single cut to the agency since the agency was created.

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<v Speaker 3>It primarily targets space science programs, so it would cancel

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of missions for planetary science, astrophysics, things of

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<v Speaker 3>that nature. You know, a lot of the things that

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<v Speaker 3>NASA has become famous for are being targeted in this

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<v Speaker 3>budget plan. At the same time, there is a much

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<v Speaker 3>more renewed focus on human spaceflight with the budget, some

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<v Speaker 3>money being given to start, you know, make sure we're

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<v Speaker 3>we stay on the course for lunar exploration. The name

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<v Speaker 3>humans back to the mooned through this, the Artemis program

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<v Speaker 3>that NASA has created, and then also starting up development

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<v Speaker 3>into potentially sitting humans to Mars. So it seems like

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<v Speaker 3>there is much more of a focus on funding human

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<v Speaker 3>spacelight initiatives and a poolback on space science, which doesn't

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<v Speaker 3>necessarily have humans on board when those happen. And I

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<v Speaker 3>think that's a kind of a fundamental tension that the

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<v Speaker 3>agency has grappled with for many decades, and it seems

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<v Speaker 3>to be clear where this White House what line they

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<v Speaker 3>fall on when it comes to that debate.

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<v Speaker 2>We're speaking with Lauren Grush. She's Bloomberg News Space reporter.

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<v Speaker 2>She's also the author of The Six, The Untold Story

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<v Speaker 2>of America's first women astronauts Joining us from Austin, Texas. Lauren,

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<v Speaker 2>do we know what direction the president wants NASA to

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<v Speaker 2>go in? Or the president? We don't? Do you know

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<v Speaker 2>which direction the President will go in? Now that Isaac

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<v Speaker 2>Men's name has been pulled? Are there any names being

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<v Speaker 2>banded about at this point?

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<v Speaker 3>There's definitely names being banded about. I'm not sure I'm

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<v Speaker 3>ready to say them publicly, but there's definitely a speculation

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<v Speaker 3>on who would come next. I think what we can

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<v Speaker 3>expect is that this White House is very keen on

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<v Speaker 3>furthering the privatization of spaceflight and making it so that

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<v Speaker 3>NASA helps to jumpstart the commercial space industry even more

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<v Speaker 3>than it already has. So NASA less being the ones

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<v Speaker 3>to oversee development and to spend all the money on

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<v Speaker 3>all these endeavors, but to partner with the commercial space

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<v Speaker 3>industry and to you know, make help the vitalization or

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<v Speaker 3>revitalization of the commercial space industry by helping companies get

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<v Speaker 3>the money they need to jumpstart their various programs. I

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<v Speaker 3>think the question becomes, though, you know, how long is

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<v Speaker 3>it going to take for a new dominie to get named.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, they have to go through the entire Senate

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<v Speaker 3>confirmation process. Again, we were on the cusp of that

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<v Speaker 3>happening with Jared as I think, as you mentioned, it

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<v Speaker 3>was expected that he was going to get confirmed by

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<v Speaker 3>the full Senate today or at least as early as today,

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<v Speaker 3>and so now we have to start from square one.

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<v Speaker 3>They have to be vetted, they have to go through

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<v Speaker 3>a hearing, and so when that person will be in

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<v Speaker 3>charge of the agency as an open question. And then

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<v Speaker 3>during that time we're going through the typical budget process. Right,

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<v Speaker 3>so there's going to be hearings and discussion among lawmakers

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<v Speaker 3>about these major budget cuts that the White House has proposed.

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<v Speaker 3>But NASA doesn't have a full time advocate, a political advocate.

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<v Speaker 3>They have an acting administrator, Janet Petro, but that person

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<v Speaker 3>has not been fully vetted. It's not her responsibility to

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<v Speaker 3>really take up with the mantle of what the White

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<v Speaker 3>House wants. So NASA is kind of lacking this leader

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<v Speaker 3>to really be an advocate for the agency. And so

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<v Speaker 3>what that means for the budget process through the rest

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<v Speaker 3>of the year is going to be interesting.

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<v Speaker 4>Maybe I am a naive in thinking that space should

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<v Speaker 4>be or supposed to be bipartisan. I'm wondering, You've obviously

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<v Speaker 4>followed the space for a while, is space becoming more politicized?

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<v Speaker 3>I think that is the concern for sure. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>there's for a long time, Space has fairly benefitted for

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<v Speaker 3>space policy has benefitted from being bipartisan. Everybody loves space.

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<v Speaker 3>Democrats and Republicans alike love to, you know, have space

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<v Speaker 3>initiatives in their districts and things like that. I think

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<v Speaker 3>everybody can rally behind space. But I think the concern

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<v Speaker 3>is that, you know, with Elon's foray into politics, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>he's obviously very closely aligned with SpaceX and NASA and

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<v Speaker 3>now space policy, and so, you know, has that had

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<v Speaker 3>a tarnishing effect on space? And you know, people who

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<v Speaker 3>support space. I don't know if we're that far into

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<v Speaker 3>it yet. But that is the concern because once space

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<v Speaker 3>has become politicized and it suffers from many of the

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<v Speaker 3>other things that happened to very politicized topics, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>and then it becomes less about you know, science and

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<v Speaker 3>discovery and more about who supports what.

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<v Speaker 2>Lauren gonna have to leave it there. Always appreciate when

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<v Speaker 2>you joined us, and we know we'll have you back

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<v Speaker 2>on when they announced a new pick for NASA administrator,

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<v Speaker 2>but hopefully before then as well. Lauren Grush Bloomberg News

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<v Speaker 2>Space reporter. Check out her book The Six The untold

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<v Speaker 2>story of America's first women astronauts.