According to Reuters, SpaceX lobbyists might have successfully convinced the newly sworn-in President Trump to shutter the National Space Council. SpaceX seems to believe the council was a “waste of time,” and the White House might think it’s too much bureaucracy.
In 2017, President Trump reinstalled the National Space Council with a goal to strengthen government-wide space cooperation. Chaired by the Vice President, then Mike Pence, the council members consisted of the heads of any government department or agency that touched space policy. While this included the expected individuals like the Department of Defense, NOAA, and NASA, it also brought in budget personnel, the Department of State, Transportation, and Commerce, and a half dozen more.
While Vice President Pence played a large role in chairing the council, Vice President Kamala Harris did not during the Biden Administration. The council turned its focus to building policies so the agency can work together, concentrating on climate change and international cooperation on major missions. Previously, the administration focused on pushing space programs forward, announcing astronauts for future Artemis missions, laying out a plan for how missions would be achieved, and ensuring interagency support didn’t block milestones.
While the meetings were always filled with political heads speaking from prepared statements with no real work being done, all of it taking place behind the scenes, the usefulness of the council was quickly gauged by the Vice President’s interest. While Pence was the leading White House official when it came to interest in space, more so than even Trump, Harris was not as interested. The majority of Harris’s meetings began with a prepared statement by her, then she would leave for someone else to take control and manage the meeting. Harris also only held three meetings to Pence’s eight.
Pence is out as VP for this administration, this time going to the junior Senator from Ohio, JD Vance. So far, the new Vice President has shown little to no interest in space, which implies that the National Space Council, if it were to continue, would be even less of a priority for the White House.
A shocking sentiment even though the United States’ continued global leadership in space is still a priority. Reuters reports that the new administration’s team never contacted the National Space Office on transition plans, and currently, the offices used by the council’s staff remain empty.
SpaceX also seems uninterested in the National Space Council, as its chief lobbyist, Mat Dunn, reportedly told his associates it was a “waste of time.” Even though COO and President Gwynne Shotwell sat on the Users Advisory Group, Elon Musk is also seemingly attempting to move the government away from its goal to return to the Moon, a big part of previous council meetings, and focus its energy on Mars, even making it a line in Trump’s inaugural address.
The White House seems to hope to bring policymaking about space closer into the White House and more directly from the President and his staff. This could still mean an enhanced focus on space, but we’ll just have to wait for the rest of the government to be staffed out before we know exactly how this will play out.
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