Senate confirms Michael Kratsios to lead White House science, tech office
The Senate confirmed Michael Kratsios to head the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with bipartisan support.
Kratsios, who was Trump’s chief technology officer during his first White House term, was approved Tuesday by the upper chamber in a 74-25 vote.
Kratsios will play a crucial role in molding the administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) agenda and will assist Trump in science and technology.
“It’s an honor to serve as Director of the @whitehouse Office of Science & Technology Policy,” Kratsios said in a Tuesday post on the social platform X. “Advancing American dominance in AI, emerging tech, and breakthrough science has never been so critical. Under @POTUS’ leadership, we will unleash the Golden Age of American Innovation!”
Trump announced in December last year that he would tap Kratsios to be the director of OSTP. Kratsios graduated from Princeton University and has most recently been a managing director at Scale AI, a data annotation company based in San Francisco, according to his LinkedIn.
During his February confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Kratsios said it was paramount for the U.S. to continue being the world leader in emerging technologies and showed backing for federal funding for research and development. He defended cuts at the National Science Foundation and other agencies.
Kratsios was advanced out of the committee with a 24-4 vote.
Kratsios’s Tuesday confirmation was also praised by Sriram Krishnan, an Indian American entrepreneur, who Trump named as his senior advisor for AI.