Posted: Sat, Dec 6, 2025, 9:49 AM ET (1449 GMT)

Leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee said they hope to confirm Jared Isaacman as NASA administrator this month. At a confirmation hearing Wednesday, both committee chair Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said they supported Isaacman’s second bid to be NASA administrator and would work to get him confirmed before the end of the month. At the hearing, Isaacman emphasized the urgency of returning NASA astronauts to the moon before China lands its first astronauts there by the end of the decade. He expressed his support for provisions of the budget reconciliation act that funded elements of Artemis like SLS and Gateway despite efforts by the administration to cancel those programs in its 2026 budget proposal. Isaacman dodged other questions about that budget proposal and continued to state that his relationship with SpaceX founder Elon Musk is solely one as a customer of his earlier private astronaut missions.