Jeff DeWit confirmed for NASA post, ending tenure as state treasurer
Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWit was unanimously confirmed Wednesday by the U.S. Senate as NASA's chief financial officer, a move that will end his tenure with the state agency within weeks.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration job involves overseeing an estimated $20 billion budget and takes DeWit to Washington, where he serves in an administration many expected him to join from the start.
DeWit, a Peoria resident in his first term overseeing the state's finances, was the chief operating officer of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. He was formally announced as a nominee in November.
DeWit said Wednesday he planned to leave his current post within weeks. Gov. Doug Ducey is required to appoint a replacement from the same political party — Republican. DeWit’s successor would have to run for office this year to keep the job.
DeWit’s tenure as treasurer is perhaps most memorable for his clashes with Ducey, his predecessor as treasurer.
The two publicly battled over Proposition 123, the initiative that narrowly passed in May 2016 and commits an extra $3.5 billion from the state’s century-old land trust fund to public education over a decade.
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DeWit said it took too much too quickly from the fund and didn’t offer a permanent funding solution for schools. Ducey said the maneuver would help schools immediately and would be affordable.
DeWit recently noted the trust fund had topped $6 billion for the first time, even with the stepped-up payouts under Prop. 123.
Loyalty to a long-shot pays off
DeWit first met Trump in 2015 at a State Financial Officers Foundation meeting, and he became an early and ardent supporter of Trump's long-shot campaign, frequently appearing on cable news as a campaign surrogate.
Many expected DeWit to immediately join the administration after Trump's surprise victory. When that didn't happen, speculation shifted to his running against Sen. Jeff Flake, who had been among the president's most high-profile GOP critics. Flake announced in October he would not seek re-election.
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Long before that, DeWit showed an interest in Washington and working to support Trump.
An Arizona Republic review of the notifications DeWit is required to file with the secretary of state when he leaves Arizona show he spent about 50 days, including weekends, outside the state from early October 2016 to mid-2017. Those dozen or so trips included Washington, D.C., New York and Trump properties.
DeWit told The Republic early in 2016 he would not seek re-election for state treasurer in part because he was fed up what what he saw as politics-as-usual by establishment politicians at the state Capitol.
NASA a Trump priority
At NASA, DeWit will serve an agency largely unscathed by the dramatic cuts the Trump administration has sought elsewhere in the federal budget.
Trump has shown an interest in the space agency and flirted with the idea of sending astronauts to Mars and increasing private-sector investment in space exploration.
Trump’s proposed budget for 2018 would keep NASA nearly level-funded. Most other non-defense agencies, especially the Environmental Protection Agency, were in line for steep cuts.
In February, Trump asked NASA if it could add astronauts to a rocket launch as part of deep-space exploration. The agency said it could not, citing cost constraints.
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