Senate Advances Isaacman, Trusty Nominations

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has advanced President Donald Trump's nomination of Jared Isaacman, billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut, to become the 15th NASA administrator, moving his confirmation to a full Senate vote. Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments and veteran of SpaceX missions, pledged to keep the Artemis moon program a priority despite broader Trump administration interest in Mars. He assured bipartisan senators that legal mandates for lunar missions would be honored. Isaacman also aims to pursue crewed Mars missions in parallel with Artemis, expand NASA’s scientific efforts, and boost the low-Earth orbit space economy. If confirmed, he would be the youngest person to lead NASA. The committee also advanced Olivia Trusty’s FCC nomination, potentially increasing Republican influence on the commission.