Hutchison says NASA is skirting law by shutting down Constellation

Hutchison’s latest statement came in response to a letter
from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, where Bolden cited a law
prohibiting agencies from spending more than has been appropriated for
the current year. Bolden said the program is facing a $991 million shortfall over the balance of the year, though $994 million of that total comes from “potential termination liability” for Constellation contracts, which in theory would only apply if the program is in fact canceled.

“At best, this demonstrates that, at least three weeks before briefing members of Congress about issues related to funding challenges, NASA’s leadership had already taken steps to implement a course that today leads to the loss of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of jobs,” said Hutchison. “At worst, it shows an agency that is willfully subverting the repeatedly expressed will of Congress. In either case, the result is the same. The leadership of the world’s preeminent space agency has strained its credibility to the breaking point and something has to change.”