NASA Won't Cooperate With Obama Transition

NASA administrator Mike Griffin is not cooperating with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, is obstructing its efforts to get information and has told its leader that she is "not qualified" to judge his rocket program, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

In a heated 40-minute conversation last week with Lori Garver, a former NASA associate administrator who heads the space transition team, a red-faced Griffin demanded to speak directly to Obama, according to witnesses.

In addition, Griffin is scripting NASA employees and civilian contractors on what they can tell the transition team and has warned aerospace executives not to criticize the agency's moon program, sources said.

Griffin's resistance is part of a no-holds-barred effort to preserve the Constellation program, the delayed and over-budget moon rocket that is his signature project.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[BushIsAWarCriminal]

Fire this guy today.

[booker52]

Isn't he going to be replaced anyway??? If not, then he most likely should be.

[RoveRoveRoveYourBoat]

...shake the "bush"
& down fall the nuts.

[harriettubman]

NASA is a bloated agency that needs to be restructured from the ground up. If this guy can't cooperate he needs to look in the want ads for another job.

[Ozarks]

"NASA administrator Mike Griffin is not cooperating with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, is obstructing its efforts to get information and has told its leader that she is "not qualified" to judge his rocket program, the Orlando Sentinel has learned".--Enough said- maybe Griffin can fund "his rocket program" out of his own pocket-- Goodbye Griffin

[GenXer]

I am sure he serves at the "pleasure of the President", so again bye-bye and thank you for flying with tax payer space lines.

[Antifascist-08]

What is ironic about this is that Obama is in favor of NASA, but does have serious questions about their budget and funding policies.

This guy is just asking for trouble. NASA is one of the best things this country has done over the years, but it should not be immune to budget scrutiny. That is what is going on with the transition team and he is worried about his pet project. Maybe he should spend some time working with the transition team to get his ducks in a row for the future.

Otherwise he will just be another administrator who doesn't understand why he was replaced. Get with the program, dude. Obama likes NASA but he may not like you.

[DKLabRat]

Is that right? A somewhat dumb strategy to adopt with an in-coming President, methinks. Good luck, NASA, next time you want funding.

[S1m0n]

Wow. What an effective strategy! That guy's going to save his rockets for sure!!!

[truelie]

Throw the f'er out. Barack's gotta kick some you know what. Change is coming the America. Resistence is futile. Give it up spaceboy.

[Raster]

BO will need to send someone, like ex-Marine Gen. James Jones, to straighten him out.

[rainbowstate808]

Frankly, as a country we need to be spending money right here on the planet earth and getting ourselves out of this mess called climate change. That is the real biggie, mother of a problem. If we don't take care of our home first, there won't be any trips to the moon or mars.

[Blue in NH]

Guess what. NASA is a major source of the research on global climate change. And all that for tless than 8% of its budget.

[thundermummy]

Maybe it's time that we seriously restructure NASA, starting with cutting "Space Boy Spiff" adventure projects and the dolts who push them. Bye Bye Griffin.

[DASChicago]

I feel the more resistance, the more slime to uncover.

[Artemis34]

May he be shown the door. NASA has had a big problem with people who have moral courage and try to speak truth to power, and people have died because of it. Time for a change.

[mabinog]

So, is this guy an arrogant intellectual or a Bush crony?

[Bitsko]

He has too many college degrees to be a friend of Dubya's, but he's made more than a few bucks from contracts with the Stars Wars program as well as with the CIA. Look him up on Wikipedia.

[ThinkCreeps]

He's certainly arrogant and a bush crony (not a drinking buddy, but a crony). Intellectual? In some ways.

[Highwind]

I am so tired of Republicans. Please PE Obama, stop being nice to these a-holes. They are just obstructionists.