CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The White House has chosen a relentless budget cutter who takes pride in his Grim Reaper coffee mug to head NASA and halt space station overspending at the troubled agency.
President Bush nominated Sean O'Keefe, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, to the top job at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Wednesday. He faces confirmation by the Senate.
The 45-year-old O'Keefe was Navy secretary for Bush's father and worked for Vice President Dick Cheney, when Cheney was defense secretary in the 1990s. O'Keefe was renowned for his budget cutting at the Pentagon and took pride in the cup decorated with the Grim Reaper.
He replaces NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, who is stepping down this weekend after a record 9 1/2 years in the post.
"The president has nominated a man of intelligence, energy and deep integrity," Goldin said Wednesday evening. "I wish Sean well."
In his current job, O'Keefe told the House Science Committee last week that NASA is badly in need of new leadership, even though he thought it had been well-served by Goldin.
O'Keefe was particularly critical of NASA's cost overruns in the international space station program, estimated in the billions and lambasted by an independent task force this month.
"The administration recognizes the importance of getting the right leaders in place as soon as possible," O'Keefe said, "and I am personally engaged in making sure that happens."
O'Keefe joined the task force in calling for major changes. The task force suggested that NASA reduce its space station work force, cut back on the number of shuttle flights to the outpost, extend station crew stays. It also recommended, for the near future, sticking to a three-person crew rather than the seven-person team originally envisioned — despite the hit to scientific research.
Several others, including a retired four-star general, had been approached about becoming NASA administrator but declined.
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Science Committee, called O'Keefe "a superb choice" and expressed confidence he would get the international space station back on track. "Sean O'Keefe is the right man at the right time for this job," Boehlert said.
John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said O'Keefe's profile is most like that of James Webb, who ruled NASA during the prestigious space-race days of the 1960s and had a background in public administration.
"It's what the White House thinks NASA needs," Logsdon said. He predicted O'Keefe's nomination will not be welcome news to people living in space-center communities like Cape Canaveral, Houston and Huntsville, Ala.
"It's more than jobs. It's a way of life," Logsdon said. "If you look at the report, what it really is saying is that the human space flight culture that's developed from the days of Apollo is dysfunctional."
Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat whose district includes Cape Canaveral, said NASA could use O'Keefe's expertise in fixing financial problems.
"However, Mr. O'Keefe is coming from the White House budget office, where bean counters have a history of 'calling the shots' and micromanaging NASA's programs," Nelson said. "In my opinion, the head of our space agency must be a visionary, someone able to set lofty goals and inspire our nation's research and exploration in outer space."
Before becoming OMB deputy director in March, O'Keefe was a professor of business and government policy at Syracuse University.
In 1992, O'Keefe was appointed secretary of the Navy, having previously served on Cheney's Pentagon management team and also on the staff of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
He earned his bachelor's degree from Loyola University and a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where he eventually returned to teach.
Several others, including a retired four-star general, had been approached about becoming NASA administrator but declined.
On the Net: NASA: spaceflight.nasa.gov