While Congress trims a few hundred million from the new space initiative it continues to pile on its pork. I LOVE O'Keefe's response here!

At a Senate hearing, skeptical lawmakers warned there isn't enough money for the ambitious program this year.

"You have the bad luck of asking for more money for a new program in a time of severe budget constraints," said Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with oversight over NASA's budget.

Bond offered one of the harshest assessments yet by a GOP lawmaker of the president's directive that NASA send astronauts to the moon and Mars.

"I am concerned that this new vision will become the next space station, consuming resources as costs begin to rise," Bond said at a subcommittee hearing Thursday. "One could question if now is the time to begin the full implementation, or if it would be more prudent to wait a year and let NASA decide what is needed to accomplish the goals set out by the president."

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe offered little direct response to Bond's observations.

Several hours later, however, he met with reporters at NASA headquarters and announced the agency would put a hold on $388 million in congressionally mandated NASA earmarks for the current year.

"We'll see where it goes," O'Keefe said.