Rep. Beyer returns to House Science Committee after two-year absence
Alexandria's congressman tapped for panel overseeing AI, space, and energy policy
Rep. Don Beyer, the Democrat representing Virginia’s 8th Congressional District—which includes Alexandria, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County—has been reappointed to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced this week.
Beyer served on the committee during his first four terms in Congress but lost his seat when Democrats shed committee slots at the start of the 118th Congress. His return was confirmed by the House Democratic Caucus and formalized Wednesday with the passage of House Resolution 954.
“American leadership on scientific research and technology is at a crossroads,” Beyer said in a statement. “From rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and their implications for our economy and workforce, to energy policy amid rapidly rising electricity prices, to the debate over the future of our space program, to renewed battles over scientific integrity, the House Science Committee is engaged in extremely important policy work.”
The appointment aligns with Beyer’s ongoing work on technology and energy issues. He co-chairs both the bipartisan AI Caucus and the Fusion Energy Caucus, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in machine learning at George Mason University.
Beyer’s district is home to several major research and technology institutions, including the National Science Foundation, DARPA, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the MITRE Corporation. The district also contains more federal employees than any other congressional district in the country.
During his previous stint on the committee, Beyer chaired the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee and helped pass NASA’s first reauthorization in years as part of the CHIPS and Science Act.
Solid move bringing back committee experience at a time when the intersection of space commercialization and AI infrastructure is basically rewriting long-term policy assumptions. Having someone who actually understands the technical stack (rare in Congress) chairing Space subcommittee matters more now than it did a decade ago when manned missions were the main story. I've watched too many commitees treat orbital infrastructure like it's still 1990s sattelite policy when the real action is around data pipelines and compute in low-earth orbit.