Lawmakers Criticize NASA Cost, Schedule Overruns Written 15 June 2018

The Hill reports that lawmakers at a congressional hearing Thursday “scolded NASA officials over a recent report that found the space agency’s major projects are running over-budget and over-schedule.” A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that NASA’s four “highest-profile programs” – the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion Spacecraft, Commercial Crew Program, and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) – “face significant cost and deadline problems.” House Science Subcommittee on Space Chairman Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) charged at his panel’s hearing that NASA “has been plagued for years with contract management issues which have resulted in substantial cost overruns and schedule slips.” Rep. Clay Higgins attributed the overruns to a “culture of optimism” and a “too big to fail attitude” among agency project managers. Former NASA Program Manager and current AIAA Executive Director Daniel Dumbacher said that Congress should also accept some responsibility for the current state, arguing that the “current budgeting process, including the regular use of continuing resolutions, late year appropriations, and threats of government shutdowns, results in endless, multiple planning scenarios.” The lack of stable funding, Dumbacher added, leads “to inefficiencies in planning and technical execution.” 
More Info (The Hill)