Rep. James Bridenstine’s controversial nomination to head NASA faces mounting troubles, and the uncertainty threatens to further delay potentially major changes in agency programs favored by the White House.
For the second time in three months, the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday is expected to narrowly approve the Oklahoma Republican on a party-line vote. His name never came up for floor action in 2017 because not a single Senate Democrat signaled support and Republican leaders were worried about rounding up the necessary votes on their side of the aisle. Mr. Bridenstine turned into a controversial choice due to what critics assailed as his extreme social views.
Now, industry officials and some congressional supporters of Mr. Bridenstine see the math becoming more challenging, partly due to factors outside their control. Last month’s election of Democratic Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama narrowed the Republican majority, while continuing health issues could keep Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi from voting in favor or the nomination.
With Republican Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and John McCain of Arizona widely seen as firmly opposed opposed for policy and personal reasons, Senate GOP leaders envision a difficult—and potentially monthslong—confirmation battle, according to industry officials and others familiar with their thinking.
Barring a major change of heart by key lawmakers or a strategy shift by the White House, at this point a number of veteran industry lobbyists and some senior Senate Republicans don’t see a quick, clear-cut path for Mr. Bridenstine to run the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
White House officials, however, are standing behind the choice and, according to outsiders tracking the process, aren’t considering alternative candidates. One big worry is that any new nomination would move to the end of a long queue of backed-up nominations throughout the government.
“The president looks forward to Rep. Bridenstine’s swift confirmation by the Senate, and is confident he will lead NASA to ensure America is a leader in space exploration once again,” said Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman.
NASA officials and Mr. Bridenstine couldn’t be reached for comment.
A former combat plot with scant management experience but a history of provocative, conservative views on gay rights, climate change and other hot-button partisan issues, Mr. Bridenstine has broad support across the aerospace industry. He has pledged to be “very nonpartisan” in forging a broad consensus on space policy.
Yet with career NASA manager Robert Lightfoot already serving as acting administrator for about a year—longer than any previous caretaker in NASA’s recent history—the White House has had to shelve plans seeking to revitalize the agency. President Donald Trump and Vice Present Mike Pence have extolled the benefits of harnessing enhanced public-private partnerships to send astronauts back to the moon.
About a month ago, Mr. Trump signed a directive formally establishing NASA’s goal to land humans on the moon “for long-term exploration and use,” then using it as a stepping stone to ultimately send human missions to Mars.
But most of the important policy and budget decisions flowing from the White House initiative remain in limbo. That is partly because White House officials have been reluctant to start locking in such changes without being able to rely on a permanent NASA chief and his lieutenants to direct the effort.
If Mr. Bridenstine eventually gets the job, he nonetheless will have lost the opportunity to influence 2019 budget priorities.
The Trump administration is expected to propose a largely status quo NASA budget for the next fiscal year, according to people familiar with the details. Between $100 million and $200 million in new dollars are likely to be requested for a budding lunar initiative, much of it slated to pave the way for a landing system, they said.
That is a tiny sliver of the agency’s roughly $19 billion spending plan, which is expected to maintain strong financial support for legacy programs. Those include the proposed deep-space Orion manned vehicle, NASA’s behemoth SLS rocket eventually intended to take humans to Mars and commercial capsules slated to begin routinely ferrying NASA astronauts into orbit next year.
Mr. Trump’s team previously tried but failed to sharply roll back environmental and earth-imaging programs. This time, according to one person familiar with the details, the budget submission is expected to include a slimmed-down version of a high-profile unmanned NASA mission called Europa Clipper. Slated to be launched sometime in the next decade, the spacecraft is intended to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter’s moon Europa and investigate whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life.
Following the recommendations of an independent review, the mission will carry a revised price tag of about $2.7 billion, down from nearly $3.3 billion, according to one person familiar with the specifics.
—Louise Radnofsky contributed to this article.
Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com
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