WASHINGTON– The Senate confirmed billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator on Wednesday, placing him at the helm of the agency after a months-long saga in which President Donald Trump revoked his nomination amid a feud with tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Isaacman, who promised to bring a business approach to the space agency, was confirmed in a bipartisan vote, 67-30.
He will take over after an unusual confirmation process upended by the Republican president’s swinging and sometimes tumultuous relationships with prominent technology executives who supported his campaign, including Musk, the Tesla CEO who is a close ally of Isaacman.
Trump chose Isaacman last year, but withdrew his nomination in May after a feud with Musk over the administration’s policies on issues including electric vehicles and the performance of Musk’s Department of Government Effectiveness.
Musk was the largest contributor of donations to Trump’s 2024 campaign and after the administration took office, he built a team for DOGE that traveled across federal government departments, contracts and critical infrastructure. The operation, which lasted several months, led to significant reductions in federal contracts focused on foreign aid, global health and mass layoffs of federal workers.
But these efforts did not result in a significant reduction in the federal budget deficit, the stated objective. Musk also fell out with some senior Cabinet officials and, ultimately, with Trump himself. Musk is also CEO of spaceflight company SpaceX and has ambitions to see humans colonize space.
Trump nominated Isaacman for the position again in November. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was serving as acting NASA administrator until a permanent leader was in place.
Isaacman is the founder of Shift4 Payments, a payment processing and technology solutions company based in Pennsylvania. He is also a co-founder of Draken International, a Florida-based aerospace company. He did business with Musk’s Starlink and other companies linked to his fellow billionaire.
During Isaacman’s second confirmation hearing in December, Senator Gary Peters, Democrat of Michigan, pressed Isaacman to “explain what caused President Trump to reconsider the decision to withdraw your nomination and what assurances you could have provided to Elon Musk that SpaceX would not create a material conflict of interest in this role.”
Isaacman responded that he “wouldn’t even want to begin to speculate about why the president nominated and then reappointed me.” He said he was committed to not encountering any conflicts of interest in his role. In a June letter, Isaacman promised to resign from his private sector positions if confirmed as NASA administrator.
Republicans have welcomed some of Isaacman’s proposals, and some new senators have argued strongly for his confirmation. But many Democrats have balked at Isaacman and Trump’s plans, particularly over proposed costs for certain projects and the agency’s overall priorities.
“For nearly 70 years, the United States has been at the forefront of space exploration. President Trump knows how critical it is to reinvigorate NASA as we aim to reach new heights in the greatest frontier ever known, and that’s why he chose exactly the right person for this job,” Senator Tim Sheehy, an aerial firefighter, former Navy SEAL and close ally of Isaacman, said in a statement.
Sheehy, R-Mont. added that he is confident that Isaacman “will work tirelessly to ensure that America wins the 21st century space race.”
