NASA Administrator Muzzles Employees From Speaking Openly With Obama Agency Review Team
NASA Administrator Muzzles Employees From Speaking Openly With Obama Agency Review Team
In order to ensure a smooth transition, President-elect Obama has set up numerous agency review teams charged with completing “a thorough review” of government agencies. One of the teams’ tasks is to interview agency employees, offering them “a chance to share their knowledge and pent-up grievances about programs that have run into funding difficulties or about bosses they did not like.”
However, over at NASA, this process is running into a roadbloack: NASA administrator Michael Griffin. He has gone after agency review leader Lori Garver, who once served as an associate administrator at NASA, calling her “not qualified” to judge his rocket programs. After a “heated 40-minute conversation” between the two last week, a “red-faced” Griffin reportedly demanded to speak directly to Obama.
But even more disturbing is the Orlando Sentinel’s report that Griffin has been muzzling NASA employees from speaking openly to Obama’s review staffers, “scripting” them “on what they can tell the transition team.” He has also reportedly “warned” aerospace executives not to criticize his pet project — NASA’s “delayed and over-budget” moon rocket program:
[T]ransition-team interviews have been monitored by NASA officials “taking copious notes,” according to congressional and space-community sources. Employees who met with the team were told to tell their managers about the interview. [...]
According to industry officials, Griffin started calling heads of companies working for NASA, demanding that they either tell the Obama team that they support Constellation or refrain from talking about alternatives. The companies, worried that Griffin may remain and somehow punish them if they ignore his wishes, have by and large complied.
One consultant said that when Garver invited “several” mid-level aerospace executives to speak to the team, their bosses told them not to go and warned that anything said had to be cleared first with NASA because Griffin had demanded it.
ThinkProgress spoke to an official on a separate agency review team, who described a process quite different than Griffin’s tactics. This person told us that at the agency they are reviewing, the team’s experience has been positive: political appointees have generally stayed out of their way and they haven’t had people looking over their shoulders.
Last year, Griffin faced heated attacks for saying that he wasn’t sure whether or not global warming was a “problem.” He also “quietly altered” NASA’s mission statement to remove any reference to the agency’s responsibility to protect the earth against global warming
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Fine. Pull their funding until they open their books and comply with the new administration’s requests.
When dealing with GOPers, money is the only way to get their attention. I’m not against NASA, but with our current economic crisis, I’m not sure going back to the moon is a priority.
PEACE
December 11th, 2008 at 4:04 pmA division of NASA should be restructured into Nuclear Waste Management.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:08 pmWell, I guess we know who will be one of the Bush appointments who will be fired! Obama needs to put this a$$hat on notice that he is to vacate his office on January 20. He also needs to put him on notice that if he finds any documents have been shredded, he will prosecute.
I have a question. Is “Star Wars” under NASA?
December 11th, 2008 at 4:11 pmBLUNDER: The world has never seen such freezing heat
A surreal scientific blunder last week raised a huge question mark about the temperature records that underpin the worldwide alarm over global warming. On Monday, Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), which is run by Al Gore’s chief scientific ally, Dr James Hansen, and is one of four bodies responsible for monitoring global temperatures, announced that last month was the hottest October on record.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:12 pmPresident-elect Obama President-for-now Bush and should immediately inform this jerk that they expect to see a resignation letter from him ASAP. No government official, no matter what agency they represent, can get away with not cooperating with the transition from one administration to the other.
Griffin does not own NASA; we do! Frog-march this b@$tard right out the door.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:12 pmMan, January 20 feels so far.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:13 pmDoes Griffin have silly putty where his brain ought to be? WHY in the world would he so obviously attempt to undermine what his new boss is trying to do, knowing that will get his a$$ fired?
Unless, of course, he has a ton of stuff to hide and he has nothing to lose by this pathetic ploy…
December 11th, 2008 at 4:17 pmYeah Griffin needs to go ASAP. And all NASAs man on the Moon man on Mars and man on anything else but the Earth projects should be put on hold or canceled, in favor of badly needed funding of existing and future climate satellites and instruments
December 11th, 2008 at 4:17 pmand, just what in the hell is he going to do if those people do speak to the transition team.
another sterling example of the gutless cowards who populate these agencies and who have sat on their asses for these past eight years as that monstrous pig bush destroys those agencies.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:18 pmiamwhoiam Says:
Man, January 20 feels so far.
Don’t you know it. The date of succession has already been moved up once, I think it should be the business of the next Congress to move it up further. I vote for one week after the election. There is just too much time for a crazy President like Bush to cause problems with the time the succession takes now. We could be in a Depression before January 20. Just sit back and think where we would be today if Obama had taken office the second week in November.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:21 pmLook at the picture…
Is Griffin Arlan Sphinctor’s illegitimate son, or is just his head sitting on a podium?
December 11th, 2008 at 4:25 pmLooks like Obama’s mission for change should include firing Griffin.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:26 pmNational
December 11th, 2008 at 4:27 pmAssh*le
Support
Administration
SOUNDS TOM ME LIKE CUSTER IS GETTING HIS BUNKER READY FOR THE LAST STAND.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:29 pmThis clown must go. Manned space program must end. We need to focus on saving the Earth.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:36 pmWhen Griffin was appointed as NASA Administrator I was overjoyed. The idea of an engineer in charge of NASA again, in the mold of James Webb and then Kris Kraft wes I thought a great thing and would allow NASA to get back to its primary missions of exploring our Universe and the Earth.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:40 pmNow, NASA’s reputation is in tatters and Griffin has turned out to be just another mouth piece for the Bushistas. Since he serves at the pleasure of the President, it is my hope that he is shown the door. Quickley.
Fire them all. The Bush/Cheney corporate government has to be run out of office. Every last one of them. The criteria that got them all put in place should be the very criteria that is used to dismiss the lot of them.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:50 pmBush appointees take note: your days are numbered.
Obama’s first order of business should be to remove these people from power. Next, find someone to do a good, open, scientific job. I know Obama wants to find someone to replace these people smoothly but there will be a VERY HIGH number of obstructionist neocons making nothing but trouble for him in the years to come. The sooner Bush’s legacy is erased, the better, even if it means appointing someone who has to start from scratch because of what these burrowing parasites do.
And yet, a word of caution to Obama on NASA: this country will need a flashy star in the heavens to shoot for. NASA can provide this, even in a time of financial trouble. We still need something that can provide a wonderful sense of awe that such things as the Moon Landing provided us in the past. Don’t cut out good ideas, just bad people. Whether it’s a man on Mars (not my piece of cake) or some other plan, with the right administrators and right scientists, NASA can provide a shining example of what this country can once again be proud of. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:58 pmApparently Mr. Griffin’s problem with cooperating is Obama’s choice to evaluate him? Ms. Garver used to be subordinate to him and he doesn’t like the authority over him she now possesses. Maybe even just because of her gender?
December 11th, 2008 at 5:16 pmGriffin’s pet project has sucked the life out of scientific research at NASA. The ruination was evenly applied to avoid the appearance that climate science is the real target.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:19 pmSounds like Michael Griffin will be joining the ranks of the unemployed come January 21, 2009.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:27 pmWhat an ass. Good riddance when he leaves.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:32 pmOh he has a pet project that only he should know about. Well use your own damn money for it.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:42 pmthis fool is just like the stupidass AG. they played chimpy’s games and now they want to stay on because of their good judgment.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:48 pmWhen you go to this length to cover up, then Team Obama should dig deeper, for there is surely something amiss.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:53 pmThis is my favorite quote:
“If you are looking under the hood, then you are calling me a liar,” Griffin replied. “Because it means you don’t trust what I say is under the hood.
Cuh-razy.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:05 pmCancel the manned spaceflight program. There is nothing that can’t be done just as well and much more cheaply with automated spacecraft.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pmCanceling the Manned Space Program is a stupid, kneejerk reaction that serves no good purpose for the United States. We are committed to the longterm mission of the International Space Station with our partners in Space. To renege on our agreements with the ESA, Russia, Japan and Canada would tell the world that we can’t be trusted to keep faith with the world on anything we sign our name to.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:47 pmPhuck the NASA and their bloated budget. I say it’s time to drastically cut the budgets of both NASA and the Pentagon and use that money on our infrastructure, social programs, etc, etc.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:36 pmOops…Phuck NASA…
December 11th, 2008 at 7:37 pmJim Wolf359 Says:
December 11th, 2008 at 7:42 pm““““““““““““““““““`
Like the international community trusts us now. We waste way too much money on these programs. Lets worry about our own planet instead of dumping tons of money on programs that have more to do with nation pride and being the first to explore this or that…blah, blah, blah.
NASA’s Budget is not even 1% of the total Federal Budget. the Money spent is not the problem. It is how it is spent. The problem is that Griffin has made sure that the agency kowtows to the idealogical whims of the Bush administration.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:59 pmSeveral of the NASA programs that investigate Climate Change and Global Warming were eliminated because of Griffin’s ideas that the problem does not exsist. At least 1 or 2 of these were to be operated from the ISS. Operating those programs qualifies as worrying about our planet. The mission that Griffin excised out of NASA’s mission statement.
And yes Uncle Fester, cooperation with our partners with the ISS program is one of the few things we have going for us with the rest of the planet. The Money is not a waste.
NASA Administrator Muzzles Employees From Speaking Openly With Obama Agency Review Team»
Surely the most important response is– Why?
December 11th, 2008 at 10:04 pmWhat kind of idiot & anti-American is this person?
Sounds to me like the reviewer found out just what she needed to know.
December 12th, 2008 at 1:31 amI’d say the process is working just fine.
December 12th, 2008 at 1:32 amGut this program. I bet we could find $15 billion easily in NASA.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:37 pm