Cantwell’s amendment is getting some opposition. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced a surprise amendment Monday to eliminate the $10 billion that Cantwell is adding. “It does not make a lot of sense to me that we would provide billions of dollars to a company owned by the wealthiest guy in America,” Sanders says.
Lobbying the Senate in 2021
According to disclosure reports Blue Origin has spent roughly $625,000 lobbying the Senate in the first three months of 2021. And this includes $50,000 to a firm called Clark Hill that would only lobby for the lunar landing contract.
Clark Hill includes John Culberson, from Texas a former member of the House of Representatives. Just a few months ago, he was on the National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group that makes policy suggestions to NASA.
Jeff Bezos vs. Elon Musk
Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and a slew of others have been lobbying for the contract. The project will put astronauts back on the moon for the first time since 1972.
Bezos and Musk have also been competing for the title of the world’s richest man. The more space-savvy Musk-owned company has developed reusable rockets and other successful innovations. Musk also is more than halfway done with his ambitious plan of sending thousands of internet-beaming satellites to surround the Earth. And Bezos is just starting to do the exact same thing.
