[derstander]

This is a particularly bizarre part of the article to me. Certainly Eric Berger, the article's author who's written more than one book on space at this point knows this.

The President appoints NASA's administrator (subject to Senate approval, of course) and Congress controls NASA's budget. How anyone is puzzled by NASA's focus is beyond me. If I'm being pessimistic, I would assume such people are woefully ignorant of how NASA (and maybe the government as a whole) works. I try to be pessimistic instead of cynical because if I were cynical then I would assume a bunch of negative ulterior motives.

[lazide]

Has Congress actually mandated any of this? Near as I can tell, they definitely haven’t

[derstander]

Here is a link [0] to the NASA Authorization Act of 2005. And here's a relevant snippet:

"The Administrator shall ensure that NASA carries out a balanced set of programs that shall include, at a minimum, programs in— ... (A) human space flight, in accordance with subsection (b); ... The Administrator shall establish a pro- gram to develop a sustained human presence on the Moon, including a robust precursor program, to promote exploration, science, commerce, and United States preeminence in space, and as a stepping-stone to future exploration of Mars and other destinations. The Administrator is further authorized to develop and conduct appropriate international collaborations in pursuit of these goals."

Artemis grew out of these efforts and enjoyed fairly bipartisan support over the years (including by President Trump in his first term, see [1]).

[0] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-109publ155/pdf/PLAW...

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/new-space-policy-directive...