Rep. Donalds Introduces Bill to Move NASA Headquarters to Fla.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who is running in Florida's governor's race, has introduced a bill in the House that would move NASA headquarters from the nation's capital to his home state.

The Consolidating Aerospace Programs Efficiently at Canaveral Act was introduced March 27 and is the House version of legislation that was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Ashley Moody, R-Fla.

According to The Hill, the bill seeks to relocate NASA headquarters to Brevard County, Florida, within a year of being enacted to join Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Space Coast.

Supporters of the measure reportedly note that moving NASA to Florida makes sense, given the presence of the existing aerospace infrastructure in that area of the Sunshine State and the use of Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as NASA's primary launch sites.

A bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers has signed onto the legislation as co-sponsors, including Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., Scott Franklin, R-Fla., Maria Salazar, R-Fla., Daniel Webster, R-Fla., Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., Brian Mast, R-Fla., Darren Soto, D-Fla., John Rutherford, R-Fla., Cory Mills, R-Fla., and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.

The lease on NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., is set to expire in August 2028. Florida's congressional lawmakers are not the only ones lobbying to bring NASA back to their state, however.

A bicameral group of lawmakers from Ohio appealed to Vice President J.D. Vance, a native Ohioan, and NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman, sending them a letter last month to pitch Cleveland as the next site of the agency's headquarters.

Ohio Republican Reps. Max Miller, Troy Balderson, Mike Carey, Warren Davidson, Jim Jordan, Dave Joyce, Bob Latta, Michael Rulli, Dave Taylor, and Mike Turner reportedly signed the letter, as well as Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur. Ohio Republican Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted also signed the letter.

After being introduced, the bill was referred to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and has not yet emerged.

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