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On January 26, President Trump announced his intention to nominate James F. Reilly II, PhD., to be director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Dr. Reilly spent 13 years as an astronaut for NASA where he logged over 856 hours in space, including three spaceflight missions and five spacewalks. He currently serves as a subject matter expert on space operations for U.S. and allied military forces, and is a technical adviser for the National Security Space Institute of the U.S. Air Force. Previously, Dr. Reilly was a chief geologist at Enserch Exploration, Inc., where he worked on “projects around the world including in Antarctica and on the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico," according to the White House press release. Dr. Reilly earned his B.S., M.S., and PhD in geosciences from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dr. Reilly was referred to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for confirmation February 15, but there is currently no timeline for when the committee may hold a vote.