The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee voted 24-4 today to approve the nomination of Michael Kratsios to become the next director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
That committee vote – which sends the nomination to the full Senate for further consideration – follows President Trump’s March 10 nomination of Ethan Klein to become associate director of OSTP.
Kratsios said during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing last month that he will aim to bolster U.S. efforts in artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
“The shape of future global order will be defined by whomever leads across AI, quantum, nuclear, and other critical and emerging technologies,” Kratsios said during the hearing. “It is a national security imperative the United States to achieve and maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance … I am committed to American leadership and emerging technologies and to ensuring that all Americans benefit from scientific and technological breakthroughs,” the nominee said.
Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., supported Kratsios’ nomination during committee mark-up session today and voted in favor of moving his nomination to the full Senate.
“Having worked in the first Trump administration, I believe he understands the national security imperative related to technology investment,” Cantwell said. “I believe that in his commitment to this committee he will continue to make the investments that we need,” she added.
Klein is a familiar face in the White House, having served as an emerging technology policy advisor in President Trump’s first administration. Since then, Klein completed a PhD in nuclear science engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he developed nuclear technologies for arms control and nonproliferation.
While studying at MIT, Klein worked as a researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. More recently, Klein has been pursuing a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University.
As associate director of OSTP, Klein may also be in the running to serve as U.S. Chief Technology Officer, a position created by President Obama in 2009.
Legislation enacted since then has made the U.S. CTO role a Senate-confirmed position. The White House’s nomination notice for Klein at the present time only says that he is being nominated for the OSTP associate director position.
