Jared Isaacman Wins Vote as NASA's Next Leader After Facing Scrutiny from the Trump Administration

Jared Isaacman is now confirmed to be the next leader of NASA after the US Senate voted in favor of the entrepreneur, 67-30. This means Isaacman now holds the title of "Administrator" of the space agency.

Jared Isaacman Wins Vote as NASA's Next Leader

According to a report by The New York Times, the successful voting process is finally done after around 11 months since Isaacman was first nominated for the position by President Donald Trump, However, Isaacman was later removed from contention before being considered again.

Now, Isaacman is the official administrator for NASA, set to replace acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, who was selected to fill in the role. With this selection, Isaacman will soon lead the space agency that has undergone a series of drastic changes in the past months.

According to a previous report by Politico, NASA has downsized in various departments and teams of the space agency because of the budget cuts that the Trump administration pushed. The move, greatly criticized by many, has led to many research and missions getting sidelined or canceled altogether amidst the rapidly expanding space race against other nations.

Isaacman is not yet sworn in to the position, but there are already massive hurdles awaiting the next NASA administrator. Under Isaacman, NASA will focus on the next venture that aims to bring back humans to the Moon, particularly American astronauts.

Facing Scrutiny from the Trump Administration

Isaacman is one of the most prolific names in the space industry before the nomination from Trump as he is known for having gone to space twice, with the second one creating a new page in history via the Polaris Dawn mission.

In this trip, SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon brought Isaacman's team to the farthest place a commercial team had gone, while also achieving a successful spacewalk.

Shortly after, Trump chose Jared Isaacman as the top candidate to be the next NASA administrator to replace Bill Nelson.

However, due to reported political reasons, Trump withdrew his consideration of Isaacman to be the next NASA leader, days before the vote would have taken place. This event also took place before Trump and Elon Musk's fallout, with the SpaceX CEO and co-founder best known for being allies with Isaacman.

Back in November, Isaacman was yet again tapped by President Trump to be considered for the NASA administrator role, with the entrepreneur and civilian astronaut made to wait until now for the voting process.