| SENATE FLOOR DRAMA OVER NASA PICK: The Senate nearly blocked confirmation of President Trump's nominee to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Wednesday. The vote to confirm Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine (Okla.) was held open for about a half hour after Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) changed his vote to "no," which temporary tied the vote at 49 to 49. But Flake eventually switched back to "yes," giving Bridenstine the 50 to 48 simple majority needed to invoke cloture and set up a likely vote on final confirmation as early as Thursday. All Republicans voted "yes" and all Democrats voted "no." In all, the vote took nearly an hour. Flake told reporters later that he needed to have "some discussions, some extra time" on issues, but declined to provide specifics. "I just needed some more time so we'll see where it goes from here. ... It was a close vote so, I just wanted some time to think about it." Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), who immediately cornered Flake on the floor when he switched to "no," said Flake was "looking for some assurances" that he would be able to talk again to CIA Director Mike Pompeo, nominated to lead the State Department. "I'm confident he'll have that chance this afternoon," he told reporters, adding there were "issues" about travel restrictions to Cuba. Bridenstine was widely expected to overcome Wednesday's procedural hurdle after key GOP senators indicated they would support him at least on the first hurdle. Collins 'yes' on cloture, undecided on confirmation: GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) voted to end debate on Bridenstine's nomination, but she hasn't decided how she'll vote on the final confirmation. "I've met with him and I've been lobbied both for and against him. People are raising some concerns that I'm looking further into," she told The Hill. Rubio votes 'yes': Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who previously said a "politician" should not be running NASA, ended up voting for cloture and will vote to confirm Bridenstine. "The unexpected April 30 retirement of the Acting Administrator would leave NASA ... with a gaping leadership void unless we confirm a new Administrator. Because of this I decided to support the nomination of Rep. Bridenstine," Rubio said in a statement, adding that "I expect him to lead NASA in a non-political way and to treat Florida fairly." Bridenstine appeared in a pair of advertisements supporting Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for president in the 2016 campaign over Rubio. "I have seen Ted Cruz stand up to both Obama and Marco Rubio, when they joined forces to provide amnesty without border security," Bridenstine said in one ad. "The Rubio amnesty bill would have expanded the U.S. refugee resettlement program." Why it matters: Democrats, led by Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) had put up a significant fight against Bridenstine, arguing that he is unqualified, in part due to his doubts about climate change science, his opposition to LGBT rights and what they called his political "divisiveness." Nelson in particular had tried to rally GOP opposition. As recently as Wednesday morning, Nelson was saying that Republicans had expressed private misgivings about Bridenstine. But while the Democrats were able to keep their caucus united -- even senators running for reelection in heavily GOP states voted against cloture -- they could not convince anyone in the GOP to join them. What's next: The Senate is likely to vote Thursday on final confirmation of Bridenstine. And unless Collins decides to vote against him, the vote count is expected to be the same as Wednesday's. Robert Lightfoot, NASA's current acting administrator, plans to leave by the end of the month, so the administration will likely want to swear Bridenstine in as soon as possible. Read more. WHITE HOUSE OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO PRUITT: The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced it will investigate EPA's decision to spend more than $43,000 for the purchase and construction of a soundproof booth in Pruitt's personal office. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney announced the probe during a House hearing Wednesday in front of a subcommittee for the House Appropriations Committee. Mulvaney noted the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) findings Monday that EPA violated the Antideficiency Act through the purchase of the booth. The bill restricts agency from spending money that is not allotted them by Congress. Read more here. Why it matters: Up until Wednesday the White House has remained disengaged from the controversies wracking the EPA, opting not to respond to a number of calls for Trump to fire Pruitt over his spending habits and other ethical issues. While GAO and the EPA's internal Office of the Inspector General have received numerous Congressional requests to look into matters surrounding the agency, Trump has recently expressed his support of Pruitt tweeting last week, "Scott is doing a great job!" Watch for the tweets: It will be interesting to see if or how Trump responds to this new investigation taken on by his own White House. Not only has Trump himself tweeted his support for the Administrator, he appeared to downplay many of the issues Pruitt is being investigated for by other agencies. In his tweet last week, Trump said: "While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK." It's also worth noting that Pruitt's soundproof booth was not mentioned in the tweet. 170 LAWMAKERS PUSH PRUITT TO CALL IT QUITS: A group of 131 House representatives and 39 senators signed a resolution introduced Wednesday that calls for Pruitt to resign. The resolution states that the co-signers have "no confidence in the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and [are] calling for the immediate resignation of the Administrator." Highlighted within the resolution are concerns about Pruitt's use of taxpayer money, "dramatic" budget cuts and waivers given to employees to work at connected companies while still employed by the EPA. "The Agency is hemorrhaging staff and experts needed to protect the health, safety, and livelihood of millions of people of the United States, with more than 700 employees of the Agency having left or been forced out of the Agency during his tenure as Administrator," reads the resolution. The lawmakers argue that Pruitt is failing to uphold the responsibilities of his job as administrator. They cited regulatory rollbacks and actions to lower environmental protections at the agency they say should remain "science-based." Marked absent: Notably absent from the letter were the signatures of the three Republican members of Congress who previously called for Pruitt to resign or be fired: Reps. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Carlos Curbelo (Fla.) and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.). Another call for Pruitt's exit: The NAACP also joined chorus of organizations calling for Pruitt to resign Wednesday. The civil rights group, along with more than 30 other organizations focused on the environment and labor, signed off on a full-page newspaper ad that ran Wednesday morning in The New York Times, the New York Post and Pruitt's home-state paper, The Oklahoman. The ad read: EPA's Scott Pruitt isn't protecting our health or the environment. He's protecting polluters. Read more here. SENATE BLOCKS COAST GUARD BILL: The Senate blocked legislation on Wednesday that environmentalists and opponents argue would weaken water pollution standards. The 56-42 vote deprived the legislation of the 60 votes it needed to move forward. The bill included a version of the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), which would exempt ships' ballast water from Clean Water Act oversight under the EPA and stop most states' attempts to regulate ballast water.
Ballast water has been blamed for some of the worst invasive species cases. Originally Democratic Sens. Bob Casey (Pa.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Doug Jones (Ala.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Bill Nelson (Fla.) voted with Republicans to advance the bill. Read more here. ON TAP THURSDAY: - The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to examine rural energy challenges.
OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Solar panel maker SunPower Corp. said it's buying SolarWorld, the Los Angeles Times reports. SolarWorld successfully petitioned the Trump administration to impose tariffs on imported solar panels, which help SolarWorld, but hurt SunPower due to its reliance on imports. Voters in Florida will decide this year on a single ballot initiative that would both ban oil and natural gas drilling in state-controlled waters and ban vaping in many public spaces, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Venezuela officials arrested two executives from Chevron Corp., Reuters reports. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Wednesday's stories ... -170 lawmakers sign resolution calling for Pruitt's resignation -Trump's NASA nominee advances after floor drama
-Senate blocks bill that opponents say weakens water pollution rules -GOP Senate hopeful convicted after mining disaster files to vacate conviction -House panel advances bills to guard energy grid from cyberattacks -White House budget office to investigate Pruitt's soundproof booth -NAACP calls for Pruitt to be fired -Trump attorneys defend Obama's Atlantic Ocean protections -Trump's EPA quietly revamps rules for air pollution | 
