Jared Isaacman confirmed as NASA chief after monthslong tug-of-war

By Jackie Wattles, CNN

(CNN) — A monthslong saga featuring tech billionaire Jared Isaacman — President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again pick to run NASA — has finally come to a close as the Senate confirmed his appointment in a 67-to-30 vote.

Isaacman, a private astronaut and CEO of payments company Shift4, is now set to take the helm at NASA just weeks before the agency is expected to launch Artemis II, a mission that will carry four astronauts around the moon and mark the farthest into space humans have traveled since the Apollo program ended in 1972.

When Trump first selected Isaacman for the NASA role in late 2024, the choice sparked excitement among space industry leaders who view Isaacman as a changemaker. The nomination also raised concerns about conflicts of interest.

Since founding Shift4 in 1999 at the age of 16, Isaacman has made a name for himself in the space industry by self-funding experimental flights to Earth orbit. He’s flown to space twice — both times in partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Those missions have given Isaacman a reputation as a bold risk-taker who is embracing the space industry’s transition away from government-funded projects and toward private-sector enterprise. His supporters hope that, as the head of NASA, he will foster competition among space companies, push them to align with NASA’s goals, and focus the space agency’s efforts toward bleeding-edge technologies.

But Isaacman’s nomination is not without controversy.

‘Extremely suspicious’

Some are concerned the new NASA chief’s ties to Musk and SpaceX run too deep. On Monday, Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, lambasted SpaceX for refusing to disclose how much money Isaacman paid the company for his flights to space.

“This is extremely suspicious. SpaceX has billions to gain from having a friendly NASA administrator, and it seems only fair that the American people understand the extent to which Isaacman and SpaceX are financially intertwined,” Markey said in a Monday statement. “Sometimes if it looks like corruption, sounds like corruption, and smells like corruption, it’s just plain corruption.”

Markey had requested that SpaceX release Isaacman from a nondisclosure agreement that prevented him from directly providing senators with the information.

Recent financial disclosures say that Isaacman’s ongoing deal with SpaceX for a program called Polaris is worth more than $50 million. He also reported more than $5 million in capital gains from an investment in the company.

During a December confirmation hearing, Isaacman sought to downplay his associations with Musk.

“I led two missions to space at SpaceX because it’s the only organization that can send astronauts to and from space since the Shuttle was retired,” Isaacman said. “And in that respect, my relationship is no different than that of NASA.”

On-again, off-again

Isaacman’s first nomination to the role of NASA chief was abruptly rescinded amid a falling out between Trump and Musk earlier this year, CNN previously reported.

His appointment was then reinstated in November as Trump and Musk’s relationship appeared to thaw.

During his second confirmation hearing earlier this month, Isaacman faced questions about the Project Athena document — a 62-page outline of his plans for NASA that was recently leaked.

The goals outlined in “Project Athena,” a copy of which was obtained by CNN, include revamping some NASA centers to focus on nuclear electric propulsion, establishing a Mars exploration program, and embracing an “accelerate/fix/delete” philosophy to reshape the agency. Many of the proposals, particularly those that involve reorganizing NASA’s workforce and changing some of its approach to scientific research, are divisive.

For example, Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, said during the December 3 confirmation hearing that he had expected Isaacman to further distance himself from some of the Project Athena document’s proposals — particularly portions that suggest cutting NASA civil servant jobs.

After initially voting in favor of Isaacman during his first go at the confirmation process this spring, Kim recinded his support and voted against sending his nomination to a Senate floor vote.

During the December 3 hearing, Isaacman also faced questions about how he regained favor with Trump after having been on the outs for months.

Sen. Gary Peters noted that Isaacman had recently donated roughly $2 million to President Trump’s Super PAC.

“I wouldn’t even begin to want to speculate why the President nominated me,” Isaacman said at the hearing, adding that he made the Super PAC donations as he briefly considered a political career earlier this year.

“It shouldn’t be surprising that I supported the Republican party,” he said.

In the past, however, Isaacman has donated to both Republican and Democratic candidates.

In general, Isaacman has also adopted a starkly different tone on politics than Musk — who has taken a strong turn toward the right wing — or Trump, aiming to position himself as a more neutral party.

“I respect people’s passionate views on emotionally charged topics like politics, but I am anchored in the center and will always aim to be a unifier rather than a divider,” he wrote in a 2024 post on X.

Such a stance is in line with how NASA administrators of the past have positioned themselves. Effectively leading the space agency — and securing funding for projects NASA hopes to accomplish — routinely requires the agency’s chief to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

An unorthodox pick

NASA administrators are typically selected from a pool of scientists, engineers, academics or public servants.

That makes Isaacman, a tech entrepreneur, an atypical leader for the space agency. And while he’s gained critics across the science community and in pockets of Washington, DC, he’s also been cheered by exploration advocates who believe NASA needs a changemaker at its helm.

“With decades of experience as an entrepreneur, business leader, and commercial space pioneer, Mr. Isaacman is ideally suited to lead NASA at this critical time in the agency’s history,” said Dave Cavossa, the president of the Commercial Space Federation, a trade association, in a recent statement.

A coalition of 36 former NASA astronauts also supported Isaacman taking on the agency’s top job.

“We believe that Jared Isaacman is clearly qualified to lead NASA at this critical juncture,” the group said in a statement. “Most importantly, Jared has a genuine passion for space exploration and a genuine admiration for NASA as an American institution. He will bring renewed energy and sense of purpose to NASA.”

The current acting administrator of NASA, Sean Duffy, who also serves as Trump’s Transportation Secretary, congratulated Isaacman on his new role in a social media post Wednesday.

“I wish Jared success as he begins his tenure and leads NASA as we go back to the Moon in 2028 and beat China,” the post reads.

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