--- title: Senator Ted Cruz to Head Senate Subcommittee on Space description: The Republican lawmaker's appointment is part of a larger reshuffle following the GOP's win in the 2014 Congressional election. canonical: https://time.com/3663439/ted-cruz-senate-subcommittee-nasa-congress/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-12T08:43:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:28:58.661Z article:section: Science og:title: Sen. Ted Cruz to Head Senate Subcommittee on Space og:description: The appointment is part of a reshuffle following the GOP's 2014 Congressional election win og:url: https://time.com/3663439/ted-cruz-senate-subcommittee-nasa-congress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a7109ac2d0389b2/6987795b5f570fe0dab14a1a/184060285.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Conservatives Speak At Values Voters Summit In Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sen. Ted Cruz to Head Senate Subcommittee on Space twitter:description: The appointment is part of a reshuffle following the GOP's 2014 Congressional election win twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a7109ac2d0389b2/6987795b5f570fe0dab14a1a/184060285.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senator Ted Cruz to Head Senate Subcommittee on Space by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jan 12, 2015 8:43 AM UTC  Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), speaks at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council, on October 11, 2013 in Washington, DC. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), speaks at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council, on October 11, 2013 in Washington, DC.Andrew Burton—Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jan 12, 2015 8:43 AM UTC Texas Senator Ted Cruz [was appointed](http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord%5Fid=8452ed0b-18be-4057-a376-babfd31322cb) the chair of the Senate subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness last week — which means he will be in charge of overseeing space agency NASA in Congress. The Republican lawmaker’s appointment is part of a larger reshuffle following the GOP’s win in the 2014 Congressional election. The Verge [reports](http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/11/7528337/senator-ted-cruz-nasa-subcommittee) that Cruz has previously denied climate change exists and also unsuccessfully attempted to reduce NASA’s funding in July 2013. But Cruz, whose role at the subcommittee’s helm will be confirmed later this month, has also previously said that it was “critical that the United States ensure its continued leadership in space.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3663439/ted-cruz-senate-subcommittee-nasa-congress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3663439/ted-cruz-senate-subcommittee-nasa-congress/"},"headline":"Senator Ted Cruz to Head Senate Subcommittee on Space","datePublished":"2015-01-12T08:43:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:28:58.661Z","description":"The appointment is part of a broader reshuffle","url":"https://time.com/3663439/ted-cruz-senate-subcommittee-nasa-congress/","keywords":["Space","Congress","politics","NASA","GOP","ted cruz"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a7109ac2d0389b2/6987795b5f570fe0dab14a1a/184060285.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a7109ac2d0389b2/6987795b5f570fe0dab14a1a/184060285.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Conservatives Speak At Values Voters Summit In Washington","caption":"Conservatives Speak At Values Voters Summit In Washington","creditText":"Andrew Burton—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3663439/ted-cruz-senate-subcommittee-nasa-congress/","name":"Senator Ted Cruz to Head Senate Subcommittee on Space"}}]}] ```