Eric Berger ✔@SciGuySpace

Oh my.

Doug Loverro is apparently no longer in charge of Human Spaceflight at NASA. Two days before the Crew Dragon Flight Readiness Review.

Have not gotten official confirmation but I expect it within the hour. Had heard rumors (and just that) of friction during the Human Landing System selections. But this is out of the dark, and the timing with NASA's most important HSF mission in decade next week is dreadful.

For those who don't know, the Assistant Administrator for human exploration (Loverro, formerly) typically makes the go-no-go call for a crewed mission. He leads the Flight Readiness Review meeting where all the key personnel discuss the mission and give it a green light.

This is like the owner of the New York Yankees firing the team's manager on the day before Game 1 of the World Series.

3:42 PM - May 19, 2020

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1262827696763125761

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1262828353817583619

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1262829545281015809

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1262830940776271872

Loren Grush ✔@lorengrush

Supposedly we're getting a release soon that Doug Loverro is out at NASA

If so, it's a wild time for personnel change at NASA, especially within human spaceflight

Message to employees at NASA



https://twitter.com/lorengrush/status/1262828537461067784

https://twitter.com/lorengrush/status/1262831677405085696

https://twitter.com/SteveStuWill/status/1262510903745851392
Steve Stewart-Williams @SteveStuWill

If the moon were as close to the Earth as the International Space Station… 😲

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6:30 PM - May 18, 2020

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1262775200724275216
The Hill ✔@thehill

Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany: "If it were any other President of the United States, the media would take him at his word."

Embedded video

12:00 PM - May 19, 2020

https://twitter.com/RockHistoryPics/status/1262712910511583232
Rock History Pics @RockHistoryPics

Happy 75th birthday to the legendary Pete Townshend (co-founder and leader, principal songwriter, guitarist and secondary lead vocalist) of The Who. #petetownshend #TheWho #Legend @TheWho





7:53 AM - May 19, 2020

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-fire-inspector-general-steve-linick-mike-pompeo-investigation-a9522521.html

After being questioned, the President threw Pompeo under the proverbial bus. Two dogs, some rumors about Saudi weapons and an 'UberEats with guns' later, the controversy is only getting worse

Andrew Feinberg May 19, 2020

<snip>

Trump announced the move in what DC veterans call a “Friday night news dump” last week by releasing a perfunctory letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declaring that he “no longer” has “the fullest confidence” in Linick — who has been the State Department’s top watchdog since 2013. When asked why he’d decided to start the process to end his tenure as Inspector General (which requires Congress be given 30 days’ notice), White House officials said Trump had made the decision at the recommendation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

</snip>

But Linick’s dismissal could be much more than a matter prompted by yet another Trump cabinet secretary’s personal ethics having gone to the dogs.

On Monday, Engel said in a statement that he’d “learned that there may be another reason for Mr Linick’s firing”.

"His office was investigating — at my request — Trump’s phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia,” Engel said. "We don’t have the full picture yet, but it’s troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr Linick pushed out before this work could be completed.”

And while Trump’s previous firings of Inspector Generals have not stirred much activity among even those Senate Republicans who’ve long supported such watchdogs, this latest action prompted some — including Iowa’s Chuck Grassley — to stir from their customary somnolescence.

Yet when reporters asked Trump to explain his decision, he all but threw Pompeo under the proverbial bus by confirming that Pompeo had asked him to fire Linick, adding for good measure that he’d given agency heads carte blanche to ask him to fire any Inspector General who’d been appointed by his predecessor.

</snip>

https://twitter.com/tomricks1/status/1262754810429755398
Thomas E. Ricks ✔@tomricks1

BREAKING: Health care professionals to drive at high speeds around military bases to thank Navy and Air Force for flyovers

10:39 AM - May 19, 2020

https://twitter.com/SenSherrodBrown/status/1262753739024134144
Sherrod Brown ✔@SenSherrodBrown

The first word out of Sec. Mnuchin’s mouth at today's Banking Hearing?

Not workers, not families – liquidity.

Families don’t want to hear about liquidity and financial double-speak, they want to hear how this administration will keep them safe when they go to work.

10:35 AM - May 19, 2020

https://twitter.com/GarrettHaake/status/1262753119651237888
Garrett Haake ✔@GarrettHaake

"How many workers should give their lives to increase our GDP by half a percent?" is a hell of a question, just now, from @SenSherrodBrown to Secretary Mnuchin. - Mnuchin called the question unfair.

10:32 AM - May 19, 2020

https://twitter.com/GarrettHaake/status/1262744717114011648
Garrett Haake ✔@GarrettHaake

President Trump is coming to the Hill today for lunch with Senate republicans, two sources tell @JulieNBCNews. GOP lunches have moved to the large Hart 216 hearing room, but this will be a very interesting test of social distancing for the Capitol.

On the Hill there aren’t any of the protections currently set up at the White House: no temperature checks, no coronavirus tests, mask-wearing is spotty and not enforced by anyone.

9:59 AM - May 19, 2020