O'Keefe went through that process earlier this year after Bush nominated him to his current job in February.

O'Keefe has been an instrumental figure in the White House's attempts to bring the International Space Station budget under control. After determining that the program would exceed its budget by $5 billion over the next five years, OMB cut NASA's request for funding major future work on the station. The cuts included money for the construction of new crew quarters and the development of a crew rescue vehicle capable of getting seven astronauts off of the orbiting laboratory in an emergency.

Both of those programs were considered essential to NASA's ability to increase the size of the station's rotating crews from three to seven.

Those actions came under intense scrutiny during budget hearings before the House Science Committee and at least one member of the committee said he intends to keep pressuring the White House and the new NASA administrator to make the station capable of handling the full crew complement of seven.

"Mr. O'Keefe is well known to the Committee for through his oversight of the Space Station program at the Office of Management and Budget. we hope that Mr. O'Keefe continues to emphasize the need for NASA to institute more effective management and cost estimation methods in the Space Station program," said Rep. Ralph Hall (D-Texas), the ranking Democrat on the Science Committee in a press release.

However, Hall said he also would continue to emphasize to NASA and OMB that "our vision in space must include a space station that is a world-class research facility. Fundamentally this means a station with seven, not three crew on board at all times. Anything less would compromise our space research effort, our relationships with the international partners, and ultimately the entire purpose and rationale for the station program."

Hours before Hall issued his statement, the European government ministers who fund the European Space Agency announced at press conference in Edinburgh, Scotland where they are meeting Nov. 14-15, that they are considering withholding as much as 60 percent of their space station spending until it is more clear what direction the United States intends to take.

"Europe will fulfill its obligations [to the station] and we expect that as well from our partners - this means the U.S. and other partners," German Research Minister Edelgard Buhlman said in a press conference Nov. 14 at the end of the ministers' first day of work. "We may block part of our budget, to give us time to react to decisions made in the U.S. early or in the middle of next year. We are confronted with a situation in the U.S."

Buhlman said ESA ministers were leaning toward freezing 60 percent of the investment they had planned to make in space-station utilization until the situation in the United States becomes clearer.

Antonio Rodota, ESA's director-general, said during the press briefing that blocking payment on 60 percent of this planned spending would not endanger Europe's overall space station program. He said the funds could be unblocked late in 2002, once a final NASA decision has been made on how to proceed with the station.

NASA had no immediate comment on ESA's position.

"Before we make any comment on the specifics we should wait until after ESA completes is ministerial and reports its findings to the agency," said NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs.

For his part, Goldin issued a statement wishing the man named to succeed him good luck in the job.

"The President intends to nominate Sean to what I feel is the best job in the world, leading a team made up of the best people I've had the privilege to know," said Goldin, who retires at the end of the week. "There is no more dedicated group of people serving any agency in the federal government. I am sure NASA's creative and diverse workforce will give Sean the same outstanding support it's given me these many years."