Isaacman’s NASA Nomination Clears Senate Commerce Committee Again

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee again approved Jared Isaacman’s nomination to be NASA Administrator today. This is Isaacman’s second time through the process because President Trump withdrew the nomination after the first vote, but later reinstated it. The next step is a vote by the full Senate, which could happen very soon.

Isaacman’s nomination was approved tonight by a vote of 18-10.

All 15 committee Republicans and three of the 13 Democrats voted in favor: Senators Ted Cruz (Chairman, R-Texas), John Thune (R-South Dakota), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Todd Young (R-Indiana), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), John Curtis (R-Utah), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Tim Sheehy (R-Montana), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Maria Cantwell (Ranking Member, D-Washington), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), and John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania).

Ten of the 13 Democrats voted no: Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Andy Kim (D-New Jersey), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware).

Kim was one of the Senators who changed his vote compared with the first vote on April 30. During Isaacman’s second nomination hearing last week, Kim criticized Isaacman for statements he made about getting NASA out of the ‘”taxpayer funded climate science business and leave it for academia to determine” and reevaluating “sustained lunar presence.” Hickenlooper also changed from yes to no, while Fetterman changed from no to yes. The reasons aren’t clear. Hickenlooper asked Isaacman for his views on balancing exploration and science programs in a budget-constrained environment, but it was not a confrontational exchange. Fetterman wasn’t present.

The final step will be for the full Senate to vote on the nomination.

At last week’s hearing, Cruz and Cantwell expressed strong support for Isaacman and said they expected him to be in the job by the end of the year. The Senate has two weeks left before recessing on December 19 for the holidays, suggesting the vote will happen soon. In September, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) changed Senate rules making it easier for sub-cabinet and many other nominations to be bundled together and voted on simultaneously — “en bloc.”  The Congressional Research Service has a useful report explaining the changes.

Isaacman’s nomination has followed an unusual path. Trump announced in December 2024 that Isaacman was his choice to run NASA and sent the nomination to the Senate on January 20, 2025, his first day in office. The Senate Commerce committee held a hearing on April 9 and approved the nomination by a vote of 19-9 on April 30. On May 31, however, Trump withdrew the nomination after a falling out with Elon Musk, who had recommended Isaacman. But on November 4, Trump said he was reinstating the nomination.

The second hearing last week paved the way for today’s committee vote.

The 42-year old Isaacman is a billionaire entrepreneur, experienced private military jet pilot, and commercial astronaut. He orbited Earth twice on SpaceX Crew Dragon missions that he personally financed and used to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The three-day Inspiration4 in 2021 was the first orbital space mission crewed entirely by commercial astronauts who were not professionally trained. The second in 2023, Polaris Dawn, was a five-day private astronaut mission where he became the first commercial astronaut to make a spacewalk (although he did not leave the hatch).

Elon Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX. Some Senators expressed concern that Isaacman might show favoritism to Musk and SpaceX, NASA’s second biggest contractor, both because of those missions and his Shift4 payment processing company that has business ties to SpaceX. Isaacman insists he and Musk are not close friends and he has no “direct or indirect equity exposure to any aerospace company including SpaceX.”

 

This article has been updated.