Posted: Sun, Oct 20, 2002, 6:33 PM ET (2233 GMT)
Congress will wait until after the November general election to complete work on NASA's 2003 budget. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate adjourned late last week with most of the fiscal year 2003 budget yet to be passed. Among the budget bills yet to be considered is the bill that covers the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, as well as independent agencies like NASA. While versions of NASA's budget have been approved by the appropriations committees in both houses, neither budget has been approved by the full body; once this is done, a conference committee will have to reconcile the differences between the two. The Senate's version would given NASA $15.3 billion, while the House provides $15.2 billion. Congress is expected to reconvene shortly after the November 5 general election to handle the remaining budget bills. NASA and other federal agencies are currently operating under a stopgap funding bill that runs through November 22.
