But ask Sensenbrenner and he'll tell you that his dogged oversight and frequent tongue-lashings of NASA Administrator Dan Goldin have saved the space agency's showcase program from death by a thousand budget cuts.
"If you look at the Science Committee, I have been the most successful chairman the Science Committee has had," he told SPACE.com.
"I have eliminated petty debates over staffing, and I think I have earned the bipartisan respect of members who were at each other’s throats during the past two chairmanships."
Were it not for his prodding of NASA through committee hearings and countless memos to the White House to get tough with Moscow, he said, "Russia would not be an issue" and the project "would be dead."
NASA spokeswoman Peggy Wilhide didn't argue with the congressman's boasts. "Mr. Goldin has said on several occasions that the oversight of that committee has made [NASA] stronger, better and more robust," Wilhide said. "And that includes the space station program."
An increasing number of lawmakers are starting to see things Sensenbrenner's way.
They, too, are growing distrustful of Russia, which is nearly two years behind in launching the next component -- the so-called service module -- to the station. Last week House Republicans launched a probe on all aspects of U.S. relations with its former Cold War rival.
Sensenbrenner next may lead a charge to wean the space station away from Moscow, which he said doesn't have the money to fulfill its commitment and can only be counted on to provide station pieces if the U.S. buys them.
"Bringing Russia into the program was a political decision made by the president and vice president ... the NASA administrator should have been much more aggressive in getting America a way out of the problem."
"I would like to see the partnership redefined as a result of Russia’s failure to deliver on time," he said. "I would like to see future relations with Russia be on a contractual basis because that’s what has worked."
Now in his 11th term in Congress, Sensenbrenner has built a reputation as a pragmatist and a crusader against what he considers wasteful government spending. The 56-year-old representative has won the "Taxpayer’s Hero" award from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste six years in a row.
Sensenbrenner has been in politics most of his life. Born in Chicago, he graduated from Stanford, earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin and briefly practiced law in Milwaukee.
But politics soon came calling and he ran for and won a seat in the Wisconsin legislature in 1969 -- the year Apollo astronauts first walked on the moon. He served until 1978 when he was elected to the U.S. Congress. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Cheryl and their teenage sons Jimmy and Bobby.
Those who've worked with Sensenbrenner say the four-year Science Committee chairman is a no-nonsense taskmaster who keeps both his aides and NASA's programs on a short leash.
"Jim is a control guy," said Lynn Heninger, former NASA deputy administrator for legislative affairs who now works for Thiokol Propulsion. "He likes to be in charge, to be in a position where he has power and influence."
At his hearings, Sensenbrenner likes to grill witnesses even before they get much of a chance to testify, Heninger said.
When he's not attacking what he considers wasteful spending, Sensenbrenner enjoys boning up on cutting-edge technology, said Nick Fuhrman, a former aide who's now a consultant in Atlanta.
"He has a child’s fascination with technology," Fuhrman said.
Sensenbrenner likes to take his sons to electronics shows in Las Vegas, and at one point insisted on wearing the latest UV-blocking sunglasses. His nature as a fiscal conservative seems at odds with his love of gadgetry.
"I think it ties him in knots sometimes," Fuhrman said.
Nothing bothers Sensenbrenner more than what he sees as the Clinton administration’s decision to give Russia a critical role in building the space station – only to see Moscow’s commitment fall through time and again.
The delays have cost the space station’s other international partners $3 billion, NASA officials told Congress recently.
"Bringing Russia into the program was a political decision made by the president and vice president," Sensenbrenner said, but NASA's job is to make sure the project gets finished in the safest, timeliest and most affordable way.
To that end, he said, "the NASA administrator should have been much more aggressive in getting America a way out of the problem."
Sensenbrenner fully supports seeing the station finished and, he said, it will take tough love to make that happen.
"Oversight is tough," he said. "When you are on the receiving end of oversight, it’s never very pleasant."
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