I'm not sure but I think usms is meant to mean the US branch of the Mars Society. BTW, nobody uses USMS for any branch of TMS but Eddie. This is sort of stall news...

White House Memo Calls For Slashing Remaining Space Shuttle Flights
Frank Sietzen, Jr. and Keith L. Cowing
Sunday, July 17, 2005

According to a White House staffer, a memo representing official Bush administration space policy calls for no more than 15 space shuttle flights before the fleet is retired in 2010.

The memo, promoted by Paul Shawcross, NASA's examiner at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), calls for a massive cut to the number of approved Space Shuttle missions remaining to assemble the International Space Station (ISS) The direct result could be an ISS that is smaller and less capable than is spelled out in various international agreements.

The rest is here including the piece Ed quoted out of context: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1049