A group of high-profile former astronauts, for example, cosigned a letter to Senate Commerce committee leadership advocating for Isaacman’s approval.
“We believe that Jared Isaacman is uniquely qualified to lead NASA at this critical juncture,” the letter states. “Jared will be able to apply his vision and business acumen to make NASA a continued leader and fulfill its mission of exploration, inspiration, and discovery while expanding commercial opportunities that benefit all Americans.”
RIFs and reorganization
Isaacman, however, also faced questions about potential conflicts of interest, as he has invested millions of dollars into SpaceX, and was pursuing a multimission development program with the company. (According to a document outlining his plan to comply with ethics laws, Isaacman said he will resign as CEO of Shift4 Payments but will retain his financial interest in the company — which holds SpaceX stock — if confirmed for the NASA post.)
Isaacman also has a close relationship with Musk, who is heading the recently established Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The initiative has been working to implement sweeping spending cuts and workforce reductions across the federal government. Democratic lawmakers have cried foul over DOGE’s interactions with NASA, saying that Musk could use his role at DOGE to curry favor for SpaceX.
The company holds billions of dollars’ worth of contracts with NASA and is set to compete for more lucrative deals with the agency in the coming years.
DOGE and NASA also assembled a “Tiger Team” that worked to pinpoint how the agency might cut spending and downsize its staff. Already, the space agency has shuttered two of its top policy offices and scrubbed references to gender and racial diversity from its websites and communications in response to Trump’s executive order to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The changes have rankled some high-ranking staff and career professionals at NASA.
“There’s a massive concern across the agency that, among other issues, we’re going to have significant brain drain that will affect not only current missions but engineering and science for generations to come,” one NASA employee told CNN in March.
Isaacman said Wednesday that he has not exchanged communications with Musk regarding his plans to run NASA. And when asked by Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan, how he would ensure Musk does not have “undue influence” over the agency kra12 — Isaacman said, “I absolutely want to be clear, my loyalty is to this nation, the space agency and their world changing mission.”
Isaacman, however, declined repeatedly to say whether Musk was in the room when Trump offered Isaacman the role of NASA chief or detail his interactions with the SpaceX CEO at Mar-a-Lago.