In the NASA budget now approved, Congress demonstrates once again its utter bankruptcy
Negotiators for both the House and Senate have now released a federal budget for the 2024 fiscal year that includes NASA’s budget, and in doing so clearly illustrates by that NASA budget how utterly incompetent, irresponsible, and useless this Congress continues to be.
First of all, this budget is for this fiscal year, that actually began six months ago in October 2023. That Congress can’t come up with a budget on time has not only become routine, those budgets continue to arrive later and later, or not at all.
The budget itself was an attempt to fix things, because it actually is a detailed budget made up of six appropriation bills that the House began developing last year, rather than a massive omnibus bill that no one had reviewed or read. The goal with each bill was to reduce actual spending across the board — as much as 28.8% — not simply slow the growth of that spending.
However, that effort this year has been a failure. The use of continuing resolutions to keep the government running at previously high levels for the first six months of this fiscal year has largely defeated that effort. Do not expect the budget to shrink in 2024 in any major manner at all.
The budget for NASA also gives us a good window into Congress’s bankruptcy.
The agency will get $24.875 billion, half a billion less than its FY2023 spending level of $25.384 billion and more than $2 billion less than President Biden’s request of $27.185 billion. Support for the Artemis program remains strong along with Mars Sample Return, but funding will be a challenge for both.
Though Congress actually reduced NASA’s budget, it continued to support that agency’s most poorly run programs, Artemis and Mars Sample Return. NASA continues to get what is almost literally a blank check on both. Though Artemis’s budget was less than the amount NASA requested, NASA still got more than last year, $7.777 billion versus $7.469 billion. That money was essentially a continuing endorsement of the SLS rocket system that NASA has adopted that is too cumbersome, too complex, too expensive, and too slow for doing what it is supposed to do.
More telling however is Congress’s decision on Mars Sample Return (MSR). Numerous reports have repeatedly said that this program is a mess that, as presently conceived, will likely fail, even as it goes over budget by many billions. NASA had initially claimed it could do it for $2.5 billion, but that number is now expected to balloon to more than $12 billion. (I predict it will top $15 billion, and would not be surprised if my prediction is low by many more billions.)
In 2024 NASA had requested just under a billion dollars for this project. While the House rubber-stamped that request, the Senate proposed giving NASA only $300 million. In this new deal, Congress punts.
The final agreement expresses support for MSR and explicitly does not adopt the Senate language, but is vague on how much money MSR gets for FY2024. The explanatory statement says MSR gets “no less than” $300 million and “up to the President’s budget request.” That’s quite a range, from $300 million to $949 million. It also prohibits any further workforce reductions until NASA completes its review of the MSR program and reports to Congress on the path forward.
Essentially, this language will allow NASA to spend the full amount, though Congress will claim no.
What my readers must understand about these numbers are their overall context. Sure Congress has trimmed NASA’s budget by half a billion, but this budget of $25.4 billion is still $8 billion more than NASA got in 2014, a 30% increase in only one decade. Even as the national debt has ballooned and commercial space has made it possible for much more to be done for less, Congress has raised NASA’s budget far above inflation, with almost all of that additional money going to bankrupt government-run projects like Mars Sample Return, SLS, and the Roman Space Telescope.
Our government continues to be run poorly. When are we as voters going to fire these bums?
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Negotiators for both the House and Senate have now released a federal budget for the 2024 fiscal year that includes NASA’s budget, and in doing so clearly illustrates by that NASA budget how utterly incompetent, irresponsible, and useless this Congress continues to be.
First of all, this budget is for this fiscal year, that actually began six months ago in October 2023. That Congress can’t come up with a budget on time has not only become routine, those budgets continue to arrive later and later, or not at all.
The budget itself was an attempt to fix things, because it actually is a detailed budget made up of six appropriation bills that the House began developing last year, rather than a massive omnibus bill that no one had reviewed or read. The goal with each bill was to reduce actual spending across the board — as much as 28.8% — not simply slow the growth of that spending.
However, that effort this year has been a failure. The use of continuing resolutions to keep the government running at previously high levels for the first six months of this fiscal year has largely defeated that effort. Do not expect the budget to shrink in 2024 in any major manner at all.
The budget for NASA also gives us a good window into Congress’s bankruptcy.
The agency will get $24.875 billion, half a billion less than its FY2023 spending level of $25.384 billion and more than $2 billion less than President Biden’s request of $27.185 billion. Support for the Artemis program remains strong along with Mars Sample Return, but funding will be a challenge for both.
Though Congress actually reduced NASA’s budget, it continued to support that agency’s most poorly run programs, Artemis and Mars Sample Return. NASA continues to get what is almost literally a blank check on both. Though Artemis’s budget was less than the amount NASA requested, NASA still got more than last year, $7.777 billion versus $7.469 billion. That money was essentially a continuing endorsement of the SLS rocket system that NASA has adopted that is too cumbersome, too complex, too expensive, and too slow for doing what it is supposed to do.
More telling however is Congress’s decision on Mars Sample Return (MSR). Numerous reports have repeatedly said that this program is a mess that, as presently conceived, will likely fail, even as it goes over budget by many billions. NASA had initially claimed it could do it for $2.5 billion, but that number is now expected to balloon to more than $12 billion. (I predict it will top $15 billion, and would not be surprised if my prediction is low by many more billions.)
In 2024 NASA had requested just under a billion dollars for this project. While the House rubber-stamped that request, the Senate proposed giving NASA only $300 million. In this new deal, Congress punts.
The final agreement expresses support for MSR and explicitly does not adopt the Senate language, but is vague on how much money MSR gets for FY2024. The explanatory statement says MSR gets “no less than” $300 million and “up to the President’s budget request.” That’s quite a range, from $300 million to $949 million. It also prohibits any further workforce reductions until NASA completes its review of the MSR program and reports to Congress on the path forward.
Essentially, this language will allow NASA to spend the full amount, though Congress will claim no.
What my readers must understand about these numbers are their overall context. Sure Congress has trimmed NASA’s budget by half a billion, but this budget of $25.4 billion is still $8 billion more than NASA got in 2014, a 30% increase in only one decade. Even as the national debt has ballooned and commercial space has made it possible for much more to be done for less, Congress has raised NASA’s budget far above inflation, with almost all of that additional money going to bankrupt government-run projects like Mars Sample Return, SLS, and the Roman Space Telescope.
Our government continues to be run poorly. When are we as voters going to fire these bums?
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Wiki:
Year 2022 Constant Dollars (Millions)
2017 19,508 0.47% 23,290
2018 20,736 0.50% 24,165
2019 21,500 0.47% 24,609
2020 22,629 0.48% 25,509
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA
It seems since going to Moon {though not if we continue delaying it] NASA budget should be increased a bit.
Unless Congress wants get rid of SLS and/or end ISS sooner.
If want make up some money they could end the federal EPA-
which pollutes rivers and does war crimes.
Continuing budget resolutions should be outlawed.
Mars Sample Return HAS been badly managed, especially in its initial phase – Tom Zurbuchen has said as much – but I know I am not the only one that thought it was farcical to think this mission could be done for $2.5 to $4 billion in the first place. Certainly not with the requirements NASA wants from it.
But then, this would not be the first time NASA lowballed a mission cost to Congress and got approval, only to have it balloon later.
And at this point I do not think there is any chance that any commercial outsourcing of the lander, the cheapest possible SpaceX launches, and the most capable project management can get the cost of this thing down to under $8 billion. I think it may just best to put the whole thing on the back burner for low end studies, and maybe revisit it in the 2030’s.
However, it sure does look like the Mars Mafia is going to win. Again.
I’m not an American, I’m not even sure on the correct names of your Houses (Senate and House?). But I say get rid of one of them.
From what I understand, the House looks at a law (takes time and money), then it goes to the Senate (looks also at the law = more time and money needed). The Senate makes it changes, and it goes back to the Congress. (more time and money needed).
Just get rid of one of those, saves time and money. That could also mean to fuse those to into one House or one Senat. No upper lower house time and money wasting. You look at a law, you like it, you go on with it, you take the consequences for it, you change it if needed. Sounds a bit like SpaceX approach.
Another good thing about it: You know who to blame. Congress and Senate can play the blame game with each other way too well. Bring them in the same boat, so it gets harder for them to bring up those lame excuses, and the public has an easier time to look past their PR-games.
Oh, we can’t work on the Ukraine issue as long the border… bla, …bla… -> What? So you are telling me, that working on two, yes you heard right, working on freaking 2 issues at the same time is too complex, demanding, exhausting and beyond their mental capacity?
So firing some people will in my opinion won’t work, if the number of cooks/kitchens that don’t work together but instead against each other stays the same.
So if no AI takes over, it will never happen.
Hello Agenor,
The Senate is the whole reason we were able to get the Constitution ratified. Smaller states were extremely reluctant to submit to a government in which their interests were overwhelmed by more populous states. The result was the Connecticut Compromise, which gave us the bicameral legislature we have.
It is hard to think that smaller states would be any more willing to acquiesce to a Congress purely based on population than they were in 1787.
Agenor </strong wrote: "Just get rid of one of those, saves time and money.”
Richard M gives historical context, but the reason to keep both chambers is that finding a way to work together slows down their process. Every time a law is made, it reduces liberty and freedom for We the People. Every time government solves a problem for one person, it adds to the problems of everyone else. It gives time to find the many, many flaws in each piece of legislation. The most flawed laws are the ones that were rushed through the legislature. Slower is better.
Two bodies also save money, not cost money. We have more than twice the chance for a spending idea to be rejected. Once in the House, once in the Senate, and again when they try to compromise on their differences. Only after both parts of our bicameral legislature passes a law, budget, or spending plan can we be rescued from their stupidity by a presidential veto.
What we really need is a third chamber, whose job is to eliminate laws. As it is, laws accumulate to the point that no matter what we do in life, we have violated some law, modern or ancient. We are seeing the effect of that with the government taking sides in our presidential election, abusing unknown, previously-unused laws against one political party as though waging war against that party, yet letting members of the the favored party act blatantly illegally with impunity. A third chamber could remedy the former problem, but the latter problem is a corruption within government. It is one thing to enforce obscure laws, but it is another thing to dishonestly use prosecutorial discretion in order to let transgressions slide.