Republican space officials criticize “mindless” NASA science cuts

In the nearly two weeks since Ars reported on the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts for NASA's science programs, scientists and Democratic lawmakers have both expressed deep concerns about the future of the space agency.

However, in a pattern consistent across a host of issues in which GOP lawmakers do not want to be seen to be publicly criticizing the Trump administration, the response to these sweeping cuts from Republican officials has been much more muted.

But this week, three prominent Republican space policy officials broke their silence. In an op-ed published Tuesday on Real Clear Science, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former House Chair Robert Walker, and the head of the landing team for NASA for the Trump-Vance transition team, Charles Miller, said they were "deeply disturbed" by the proposed cuts. All three men have played an important role in setting Republican space policy over the last decade.

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