Bipartisan support arises again for Jared Isaacman to lead NASA

In what Sen. Ted Cruz referred to as a “Groundhog Day” Senate committee hearing Wednesday, billionaire Jared Isaacman saw bipartisan support for a second time as President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next NASA administrator.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held the confirmation hearing nearly eight months after Isaacman’s first appearance. In his first go-around, the committee voted to advance Isaacman’s nomination for a full Senate vote, which was in line to take place in May, but then Trump yanked the nomination.

At the time, Trump cited Isaacman’s past donations to Democratic politicians as the reason why, but Isaacman said he was more likely the victim of degraded Trump-Musk dynamic.

Musk and Isaacman had a close working relationship as SpaceX hosted Isaacman’s two trips to space on the Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions, both of which launched from the Space Coast in SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Trump changed his mind and renominated Isaacman last month to become the 15th head of the agency. NASA has been run under interim leadership since former Sen. Bill Nelson stepped down at the end of the Biden administration.

Committee Chair Cruz, R-Texas, threw his support again behind Isaacman, though, as the man he thinks will help NASA beat China in what Cruz called the second space race to the moon.

“Its next leader must be both disciplined and purposeful, candidly assessing what is working and what is not, while recognizing that each policy decision has tradeoffs,” Cruz said. “NASA can’t do everything it wants to. The agency must prioritize if we are to beat China back to the moon and then to Mars.”

He said he expects Isaacman to be confirmed before the end of the year during as NASA “finds itself at an inflection point.”

NASA is nearing the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis II mission, which will fly around, but not land on the moon. The follow-on mission, Artemis III, looks to return humans to the surface of the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

“I know Mr. Isaacman will be a strong leader who sees that Artemis II launches safely, successfully and without delay,” Cruz said. “He must then turn to Artemis III landing Americans on the moon before China, which is aimed at sending its own taikonauts there by 2030. NASA cannot take its eyes off the ball.”

Isaacman, 42, made his fortune with Shift4, a credit card processing company, and also founded Lakeland-based Draken International, which trains fighter pilots.

In his opening statements, Isaacman echoed the sense of urgency.

“The last time I sat before you, I introduced myself, my qualifications and the challenges and opportunities ahead,” he said. “This time I’m here with a message of urgency, after more than a half century, America is set to launch NASA astronauts around the moon in just a matter of months. This is a challenging endeavor, to say the least, and one that requires full time leadership.”

The agency has most recently been led by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has endorsed the Isaacman renomination.

“I know it’s not lost on anyone in this room that we are in a great competition with a rival that has the will and the means to challenge American exceptionalism across multiple domains, including in the high ground of space,” he said. “This is not the time for delay, but a time for action, because if we fall behind, if we make a mistake, we may never catch up, and the consequences could shift the balance of power here on Earth.”

The ranking Democratic member of the committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash, also voiced her desire to re-support Isaacman.

“I supported your nomination the first time you came before the committee, and I hope to do so again,” she said. “I hope that today’s hearing will show that there is bipartisan agreement, strong bipartisan agreement, that we must redouble our efforts to get American astronauts back to the surface of the moon as soon as possible.”

To that end, she wanted asked Isaacman to confirm his continued support of a recent decision by Sec. Duffy to reopen competition for the Artemis III lunar lander, which had previously been given to just SpaceX. Now, NASA said it would go to whichever company, including Blue Origin, that could achieve the goals quicker.

“I absolutely agree with competition. I think we need competition for the vendors that support NASA’s critical mission,” Isaacman said. “I think competition among world powers is actually a really good thing, just as long as we don’t lose.”

Isaacman addressed concerns about a draft document called Project Athena that he called a working document he solely authored as he was getting a feel for what it would be like to lead NASA. He called it 62 pages of material that tried to juggle NASA’s goals with the realistic hurdles, calling it better to go into a role with a plan rather than none at all. Some of the criticisms from the document were threats of job cuts and the end of some Earth science missions.

“I want to assure you, Senators, I am not here for personal gain, to favor or enrich contractors, to close centers, or to disrupt programs essential to completing America’s objectives in space,” he said. “If confirmed, I am here to bring urgency and an extreme focus to the mission — to do all I can working with the best and brightest at NASA to lead humanity’s effort to unlock the secrets of the universe and ensure American leadership across the last great frontier.”

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