Congress
Moon over Mars? Congress is determined to kill Elon Musk’s space dream.
Trump confidant Elon Musk wants NASA to drop its ambitious plans to return to the moon and instead head straight to Mars. Congress is ready to put up a fight.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who control NASA’s purse strings, want Americans to return to the lunar surface in 2027 — and they’re not willing to abandon that mission despite Musk’s obsession with skipping the moon for Mars.
The division sets up a potential showdown with Republican policymakers and the influential Trump ally over one of the most consequential space policy decisions this century.
President-elect Donald Trump has, at least for now, stayed out of the fray. His first administration launched NASA’s plans to land on the moon, but he has also pressed the agency on why it can’t go directly to Mars.
“To bypass the moon would be a mistake,” said Texas Rep. Brian Babin, the Republican who leads the House committee focused on space.
But that’s what Musk, a billionaire space entrepreneur, wants to do. The SpaceX founder dreams of a Mars mission that would preserve human life beyond Earth, even if it costs hundreds of billions of dollars and poses extreme risks to those involved. He’s called colonization of the planet “life insurance for life.”
“We’re going straight to Mars,” Musk posted recently, adding that the moon focus was a “distraction.”
The Mars-first strategy, though, would likely find little support on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers want to focus on preserving jobs tied to moon exploration efforts, support a lunar economy and beat China in space. And since they shape NASA’s budget, the policymakers play a powerful role in the agency’s ambitions.
“There would be a lot of congressional resistance,” to any Mars-first plans, said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, a nonprofit focused on space exploration.
The House and Senate Science committees strongly affirmed their support for moon exploration in NASA reauthorization bills last year.
A switch to Mars would impact programs such as the moon-focused Space Launch System, a multibillion-dollar rocket that provides jobs in numerous states. The rocket is a key part of Artemis, NASA’s effort to get back to the moon and eventually establish a lunar space station.
“We have put a lot of time, effort and money into Artemis, and I think we should allow NASA to complete that mission,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a former astronaut.
Mars brings other technical challenges — such as timing. It’s a three-year round-trip mission, versus three days to the moon. And the physical stress of long-term space flight could also endanger the crew once they land.
The U.S. must go to the moon first, said outgoing NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “You’ve got to learn to walk before you run.”
Musk has long voiced support for traveling to the red planet. It’s not clear whether his January post referred to NASA’s current efforts or a separate SpaceX-funded mission to Mars. Musk and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump hasn’t publicly chosen a side. He supported a return to the moon in his first term but has since shown increased interest in Mars.
The president-elect castigated NASA’s focus on the moon in a June 2019 tweet. A month later he repeatedly asked then-NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine about the possibility of going to Mars directly. His transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
Mars also could prove a financial loss to lawmakers. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.) and Babin, for example, have promoted the development of the commercial space industry and could end up deflating business interests in space if they switched NASA’s focus to Mars.
And Congress’ moon advocates worry a shift would cede the lunar surface to China, which plans to land its own astronauts there by 2030.
“If we do not beat the Chinese to the moon, they are going to write the rules of the road up there,” Babin said.
But going against Musk brings its own set of concerns. He’s already threatened to fund primary challenges against Republicans who didn’t back Trump’s cabinet picks, and contesting his space ambitions could prove politically risky.
“Is it more important to be aligned with the leader of your party?” said Dreier, the space expert. “Or is it more important to fight for those technician and engineering jobs that go to your state?”
Joe Gould and Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.
Congress
White House declares $4.9B in foreign aid unilaterally canceled in end-run around Congress’ funding power
The White House budget office said Friday morning that President Donald Trump has canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid by using a so-called pocket rescission — furthering the administration’s assault on Congress’ funding prerogatives.
The move raises tensions on Capitol Hill as lawmakers face an Oct. 1 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. Many lawmakers from both parties, as well as Congress’ top watchdog, view the maneuver as an illegal end-run around their “power of the purse.”
The Trump administration boldly embraced the strategy on Friday. “Congress can choose to vote to rescind or continue the funds — it doesn’t matter,” an official from the White House budget office said in a statement. “This approach is rare but not unprecedented.”
The White House is allowed to send Congress a clawbacks request and then withhold the cash for 45 days while lawmakers consider whether to approve, reject or ignore the proposal. Because there are less than 45 days left before the end of the fiscal year, Trump’s top budget officials — led by budget chief Russ Vought — argue that they can employ the so-called pocket rescission to withhold the funding until it lapses at month’s end, ensuring its cancellation regardless of what Congress decides.
The pocket rescission request was first reported by the New York Post.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Two top Justice Department officials are expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks amid fallout over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to two people granted anonymity to share scheduling information not yet public.
FBI director Kash Patel is set to give testimony Sept. 17, with attorney general Pam Bondi on tap to appear Oct. 9. Both have been invited as part of the Judiciary Committee’s general oversight work, and each will have an opportunity to outline some of the pieces of a crime bill President Donald Trump wants Hill Republicans to produce in the coming months.
But the hearings will likely focus most heavily on how the DOJ has maneuvered around the release of files related to the late, convicted sex offender.
Senior Republicans have continued over the August recess to press the Trump administration to unseal more Epstein documents after a mutiny over their release caused chaos in the GOP-controlled House, running the chamber aground before lawmakers left town early in late July.
DOJ started transmitting some of the so-called Epstein files last week in compliance with a subpoena from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. And Alex Acosta, President Donald Trump’s former labor secretary who singed off on Epstein’s previous plea deal as a then-U.S. attorney in Florida, will separately sit for a transcribed interview with the Oversight panel Sept. 19.
However, lawmakers otherwise have so far received scant new information during the month-long district work period, with members of both parties promising to continue to press the issue when the House is set to return to session next week.
Bondi has, in particular, been the subject of Republican consternation over allegedly withholding documents she at one point promised to reveal.
Baseball star Mark Teixeira launched a campaign to fill an open Texas House seat Thursday, the latest celebrity athlete to dive into politics.
Teixeira is running as a Republican in a safe red seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Chip Roy. And he’s already appealing to President Donald Trump in search of a home run on the campaign trail.
“As a lifelong conservative who loves this country, I’m running for Congress to fight for the principles that make Texas and America great,” he wrote in a post on X. “It takes teamwork to win — I’m ready to help defend President Trump’s America First agenda, Texas families, and individual liberty.”
Teixeira was a superstar on the diamond, going yard 409 times in a career that spanned 14 seasons and saw him play for four big league outfits, including the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. He last played in the 2016 season.
He reached baseball immortality when the Yankees won the World Series in 2009. He was included on the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot but failed to get enough votes from sportswriters to either get elected to the Hall or return to the ballot in future years.
Should he win the seat, he could be a major boon for Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, the annual charity event that pits Democrats against Republicans. The GOP has dominated the game in recent years, a gap that a former major leaguer would likely only widen.
Teixeira is leaning into his baseball bona fides.
“In Congress, he’ll bring the same grit, preparation, and competitive spirit that made him a champion in Major League Baseball to fight for Texas—and win,” reads his campaign website.
Roy, a Freedom Caucus member who has served in the House since 2019, is leaving Congress to run for the Texas attorney general post.
- Pritzker on redistricting: ‘That’s not something that I want to do’
- Gretchen Whitmer takes different approach with Trump than Newsom, Pritzker
- McMahon rejects ‘misconception’ of federal funding losses if Education Department heads back to states
- Giuliani seriously injured in car crash
- Maryland Governor calls National Guard in DC ‘performative’
- Cleveland’s mayor wants Democrats to know millennials like him are impatient and ready to lead
- Resigned health official: ‘I only see harm coming’
- Yosemite feels the burn of an understaffed summer
- Sunday shows preview: Trump administration faces fallout from CDC leadership shakeup
- Chicago mayor vows to fight Trump intervention, signs protective order
-
Uncategorized10 months ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Josh Fourrier Show10 months agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
Politics10 months agoWhat 7 political experts will be watching at Tuesday’s debate
-
Politics6 months agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
Politics10 months agoHow Republicans could foil Harris’ Supreme Court plans if she’s elected
-
The Dictatorship6 months agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Economy10 months ago
Fed moves to protect weakening job market with bold rate cut
-
Politics10 months agoRFK Jr.’s bid to take himself off swing state ballots may scramble mail-in voting