{"id":238854,"date":"2025-12-18T07:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/238854\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T07:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:33:08","slug":"us-senate-confirms-private-astronaut-musk-ally-jared-isaacman-as-nasa-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/238854\/","title":{"rendered":"US Senate confirms private astronaut, Musk ally Jared Isaacman as NASA chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Isaacman to lead NASA&#8217;s moon, Mars programs<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">NASA workforce, budget strained by Trump cuts<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Concerns over Isaacman&#8217;s ties to Musk and SpaceX<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to become President Donald Trump&#8217;s NASA administrator, making an advocate of Mars missions and a former associate of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk the space agency&#8217;s 15th leader.<\/p>\n<p>The vote on Isaacman, who Trump removed and then renamed as NASA administrator nominee this year, passed 67-30, two weeks after he told senators in his <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/aerospace-defense\/trumps-nasa-pick-stress-moon-race-urgency-second-senate-hearing-2025-12-03\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">second hearing<\/a> that NASA must pick up the pace in beating China back to the moon this decade.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/science\/us-senate-confirms-private-astronaut-musk-ally-jared-isaacman-nasa-chief-2025-12-17\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fscience%2Fus-senate-confirms-private-astronaut-musk-ally-jared-isaacman-nasa-chief-2025-12-17%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Isaacman will lead an agency of 14,000 employees as it invests billions of dollars into its most ambitious space exploration endeavor yet: returning humans to the moon to seed a long-term presence on the surface before eventually sending astronauts to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>NASA WORKFORCE CUT IN EFFICIENCY PUSH<\/p>\n<p>The White House, in its government efficiency push led by Musk, slashed NASA&#8217;s workforce by 20% and has sought to cut the agency&#8217;s 2026 budget by roughly 25% from its usual $25 billion, imperiling dozens of space-science programs that scientists and some officials regard as priorities.<\/p>\n<p>Isaacman envisions a revamped focus on sending missions to Mars on top of the Artemis moon effort, as well as a greater dependence on private companies such as SpaceX to save taxpayer money and stimulate private-sector competition.<\/p>\n<p>Of the 67 votes in Isaacman&#8217;s favor, 16 were from Democrats, joining 51 from Republicans. All 30 votes against his confirmation were from Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Cantwell, the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees NASA, has criticized the Trump administration&#8217;s efforts to cut NASA&#8217;s science unit. She supported Isaacman&#8217;s confirmation on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;During his nomination process, Mr. Isaacman emphasized the importance of developing a pipeline of future scientists, engineers, researchers, (and) astronauts to support the science and technology development and align with NASA&#8217;s objectives. I strongly agree,&#8221; Cantwell said.<\/p>\n<p>Some Democratic senators said during Isaacman&#8217;s hearing on December 3 they are concerned about Isaacman&#8217;s closeness to Musk, whose company holds about $15 billion in NASA contracts and could benefit from certain policies Isaacman has advocated.<\/p>\n<p>Musk advocated for Isaacman&#8217;s nomination when Trump was elected in 2024. Musk had sought to realign the U.S. space program with a greater focus on Mars during his stint as a close adviser to Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Republicans and some Democrats, including Cantwell, have also stressed urgency in NASA&#8217;s moon race with China, which is aiming to send its astronauts to the lunar surface by 2030. NASA faces a shaky target of 2028 using its Space Launch System rocket and SpaceX&#8217;s giant Starship rocket, under development, as the lander.<\/p>\n<p>Acting NASA chief Sean Duffy, who also leads the U.S. Transportation Department, congratulated Isaacman on X, wishing Isaacman &#8220;success as he begins his tenure and leads NASA as we go back to the Moon in 2028 and beat China.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Joey Roulette, Editing by Franklin Paul, Rod Nickel<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/joey-roulette\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">Joey Roulette is a space reporter for Reuters covering the business and politics of the global space industry, often focusing on space power competition and how commercial interests intersect with international relations. He was part of a team that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in national reporting for Reuters&#8217; coverage of Elon Musk&#8217;s business empire. On the space beat for roughly a decade, Joey previously worked for the New York Times, the Verge, and various publications in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Isaacman to lead NASA&#8217;s moon, Mars programs NASA workforce, budget strained by Trump cuts Concerns over Isaacman&#8217;s ties&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[82495,82496,82497,82519,82499,36586,88928,82500,83399,84147,83787,82779,82969,18,45748,83117,102140,19,82504,82505,17,82768,82565,82524,83788,82780,82970,102141,82508,1540,88930,83810,82511,82512,133,98906,451,82965,82968,82513,82534,115818,82533,107,27763,120238,83127],"class_list":{"0":"post-238854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-aer","9":"tag-aero","10":"tag-aero1","11":"tag-amers","12":"tag-bact","13":"tag-biz","14":"tag-boss1","15":"tag-cmpny","16":"tag-destocatpm","17":"tag-destousdnm","18":"tag-destousscm","19":"tag-destoustpm","20":"tag-destouswdm","21":"tag-eire","22":"tag-gen","23":"tag-govact","24":"tag-gvgvf","25":"tag-ie","26":"tag-indg","27":"tag-inds","28":"tag-ireland","29":"tag-mngiss","30":"tag-mtpix","31":"tag-namer","32":"tag-packageus-science","33":"tag-packageus-top-news","34":"tag-packageworld-news","35":"tag-pbfact","36":"tag-pol","37":"tag-potus","38":"tag-pplmov","39":"tag-privt","40":"tag-sats","41":"tag-sci","42":"tag-science","43":"tag-sen","44":"tag-space","45":"tag-spacem","46":"tag-spc","47":"tag-spex","48":"tag-topcmb","49":"tag-topictechnology-space-nasa","50":"tag-topnws","51":"tag-us","52":"tag-vote","53":"tag-vots","54":"tag-wash"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115739413917391923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}