Senate Commerce Committee advances Isaacman nomination to lead NASA

WASHINGTON — The Senate Commerce Committee voted April 30 to advance Jared Isaacman’s nomination to be NASA administrator to the full Senate, bringing him one step from confirmation.

The committee voted 19 to 9 to favorably report Isaacman’s nomination, three weeks after he testified before the committee. That allows the nomination to go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote, yet to be scheduled.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the committee, said he supported the nomination after getting assurances that Isaacman would follow past authorization bills that require NASA to establish a “sustained human presence” on or around the moon and not turn the agency’s focus exclusively towards human missions to Mars.

“Our path to predominance in space begins with the Artemis missions. Mr. Isaacman acknowledges this,” Cruz said.

“For Isaacman, NASA can pursue Martian objectives, yes, absolutely. But these should not detract from the near-term objective of returning to the moon first,” he said. “Given this explicit commitment, I support Mr. Isaacman’s confirmation.”

The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), also said she supported the nomination, citing Isaacman’s support for the current Artemis architecture, such as use of the Space Launch System and two lunar lander developers. That outweighed concerns she mentioned about potential budget cuts to NASA.

“A commitment to keeping on to the moon mission is the key requirement that we have to have in this position,” she said. “Mr. Isaacman seems to be committed to the current plan for both lander redundancy and Space Launch System, and returning to the moon as fast as possible.”

The nine senators who voted against advancing the nomination were all Democrats: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Ed Markey (Mass.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), John Fetterman (Penn.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.). None spoke about their opposition at the markup.

The nomination goes to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote. Given no public Republican opposition to the nomination and some Democratic support — three Democratic senators joined Cantwell in voting in favor of Isaacman in the committee — his confirmation is all but assured.

Senators at the same markup session also voted to advance two NASA-related bills. The Comprehensive NASA Reporting Act of 2025 would require NASA to deliver to the Senate Commerce Committee and House Science Committee any reports the agency delivers to other congressional committees. The Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries (ASECND) Act formally authorizes NASA’s existing program to purchase commercial Earth science satellite data.

The Senate markup took place a day after the House Science Committee voted to advance three space-related bills, including its version of the ASCEND Act. The Astronaut Safe Temporary Ride Options (ASTRO) Act would direct NASA to provide transportation for astronauts after they return from space for medical tests and treatment until those astronauts receive clearance to drive on their own again. The Celestial Time Standardization Act directs NASA to work with other federal agencies on developing standardized time systems for the moon and other celestial bodies.