Rep. Frank D. Lucas, the new chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee — he calls it the “fun committee” — plans to focus his panel on ensuring that the historic funding appropriated by the last Congress for science, tech and energy research is well spent.
But Lucas also laid out an expansive agenda for the panel: independence for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal program to develop unmanned drones, advances in fusion energy and research money for institutions other than those on the coasts.
Typically a little-noticed committee, the Science panel will go to work in the current Congress with the potential for an ongoing distraction thanks to the appointment of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., whose record of fabrications in his campaign for Congress last fall has put him under intense scrutiny, including from investigators. Santos told his Republican colleagues at their weekly conference meeting Tuesday that he wouldn’t serve on any committees while investigations play out.
