Senate CJS Appropriations Hearing: Bipartisan Congratulations for Artemis II; Both Parties Reject $18.8B NASA Budget as Inadequate

The Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies held a hearing at 10:00 AM EDT in Dirksen Senate Office Building 138 on the White House FY2027 NASA budget request, chaired by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) with Ranking Member Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman testified, receiving bipartisan congratulations for Artemis II's successful April 1–10 crewed lunar flyby before facing a unified bipartisan chorus that the $18.8 billion FY2027 request — identical to the FY2026 request that Congress rejected, enacting $24.4 billion instead — is inadequate. Chair Moran and Ranking Member Van Hollen agreed the proposed 23% overall cut (and 47% Science Mission Directorate reduction) is insufficient to maintain NASA's current mission portfolio. Key testimony moments: Isaacman confirmed that the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could launch in August 2026 rather than the previously expected September, requesting committees update their programmatic marks; he committed to the Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom nuclear fission mission to Mars in 2028, which would be the first test of nuclear fission power for interplanetary spacecraft; and he revealed NASA is preparing a formal scientific position paper to 'make Pluto a planet again,' stating 'I am very much in the camp of make Pluto a planet again.' The Senate hearing, following the April 22 House Science Committee and April 27 House Appropriations CJS hearings, completed the major FY2027 appropriations testimony cycle. Congressional appropriators from both parties have now publicly stated the $18.8B figure will require significant revision upward, consistent with Congress's historical rejection of severe NASA cuts.