Jared Isaacman will head back to Capitol Hill early next month.
The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing on Dec. 3 to consider the nomination of the billionaire tech entrepreneur and private astronaut as NASA chief.
Isaacman, who founded the payments company Shift4, has been through this before: He went through a nomination hearing on April 9, 3.5 months after President Donald Trump first tapped him for the top NASA job.
Isaacman was set to be confirmed by Congress in early June, but Trump abruptly pulled his nomination on May 31, citing his past donations to Democratic politicians and supposed closeness to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.
Isaacman funded, organized and commanded two flights to Earth orbit using SpaceX rockets and capsules — Inspiration4 in September 2021 and Polaris Dawn in September 2024. But he has stressed that his relationship with Musk is a business one, and that he would not give SpaceX any preferential treatment should he be confirmed as NASA chief.
Trump had a change of heart on Nov. 4, announcing that Isaacman is his pick for NASA chief after all. If the nomination process goes smoothly this time around, Isaacman will take over for Acting Administrator Sean Duffy, who also leads the Department of Transportation.
Isaacman won’t be the only person getting grilled by senators on Dec. 3. The committee will also consider the nomination of Steven Haines to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis.