This is largely political showmanship. (Of course, what else does anyone expect from Congress?) $110M is not nearly enough to finance a second development progr

This is largely political showmanship. (Of course, what else does anyone expect from Congress?) $110M is not nearly enough to finance a second development program, and of course the committee knows this. And even if NASA were to request an appropriate (much larger) amount, it's dubious that Congress would grant it. Congress would love to kill off the SpaceX contract and give tons of money to Blue Origin and Boeing, but there's so little logic to that, given the performance of those companies, that even Congress can't quite bring itself to say so out loud. So they scold NASA, throw them a bone, and pretend they've taken bold action. This silly melodrama surely hasn't played out yet...