NASA's Confusion Over Presidential Transition Teams

NASA Advisory Council Meeting March 31 - April 1 2016, NASA

"Dr. Wanda Austin asked Mr. Bolden to discuss how NASA plans to work with the Presidential transition teams to maintain progress on NASA's current programs and activities. Mr. Bolden explained that the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 allows each political party, after their nominating convention, to assemble transition teams . Beginning in August 2016, NASA will have access to those transition teams. NASA 's intent is to be proactive with the transition teams and tell them as much as possible about NASA, its programs, and the President's vision and remind them, similar to the Hippocratic Oath, first of all to "do no harm. "The Nation is embarked as the leader of the world on an ambitious space exploration program. NASA has put together a great set of science programs. It has a more robust aeronautics program than at any time in the recent history of the Agency, and a technology development program that is helping to develop the cutting edge technologies that would be needed not just for the Journey to Mars but across the NASA portfolio. NASA will not wait for the transition teams to come to NASA, but will go to them."

"The Council discussed the upcoming transition in Presidential Administrations. Dr. Peterson advised that it would be important to be prepared to be proactive and present the transition teams with a plan for Mars. Mr. Hale reported that he had worked with the last transition team and learned that space policy is made at the White House. He asserted, "It is setting the expectation too high to suggest that NASA can affect the formulation of space policy." Ms. Blakey advised that it is important to know who is listened to on the transition teams."

Election only the start of a long-term NASA transition, SpaceNews

"While both Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump established transition teams after accepting their parties' nominations this summer, months ahead of the Nov. 8 general election, that planning has yet to involve "landing teams" for NASA. "We're at the point now where, any day now, we could hear about individual names for the landing team for NASA," said Michael French, NASA chief of staff, speaking at a meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) here. "NASA has not received this information yet."

Keith's note: Interesting. With regard to presidential transition teams Charlie Bolden said "NASA will not wait for the transition teams to come to NASA, but will go to them". Now, with regard to who is on these transition teams, his chief of staff says "NASA has not received this information yet". So ... I guess no one followed Bolden's direction to seek out the transition teams. In my experience, transition teams never reveal their membership until after an election, so I am not sure he'd know who to talk to anyway . If you compare Bolden's and French's approaches they seem to be the opposite of each other. I wonder who is giving NASA HQ advice on all of this?

- Now NASA Wants Special Treatment From Congress, earlier post

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