House Lawmakers Question Trump Budget Cuts to NASA STEM Education

By Meghan Bartels an hour ago

During a hearing this week held by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, congressional representatives questioned the wisdom of cutting NASA's education arm, as President Donald Trump's budget request for the year beginning in October proposes to do.

The budget request, which proposes to scrap the agency's Office of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Engagement, released Monday (March 11) is the second consecutive attempt by the executive branch to defund the office, which nevertheless received $110 million for the 2019 calendar year. (The president's budget request represents only the executive branch's priorities; money is appropriated by Congress.) Questions representatives raised during the first space hearing of the new House Science, Space and Technology Committee, held yesterday (March 13), suggest Congress may again push back against defunding the office.

"With respect to the age of the NASA workforce and the pipeline, I want to start with the STEM programs that the current budget proposes to cut," Kendra Horn, D-Okla., asked during the hearing. "What message does this send and what impact does a cut to STEM programs have to the pipeline of the NASA workforce?"

The panel included two notable STEM education advocates: Ellen Stofan, who is director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and former chief scientist for NASA, and Peggy Whitson, who clocked the most days in space of any NASA astronaut. Both spoke in favor of keeping NASA involved in structured STEM outreach programming.

More:
https://www.space.com/congress-pushes-back-on-nasa-education.html