Trump’s NASA pick faces questions on leaked ‘Project Athena’ plan in rare second confirmation hearing

Jared Isaacman, nominee to be NASA administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, testifies during his first Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing in Russell building in Washington, DC, on April 9. (Credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

A rare spectacle played out on Capitol Hill as Jared Isaacman — the billionaire tech entrepreneur and Elon Musk ally who has been tapped to serve as NASA administrator — faced a second confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

The two-hour hearing was livestreamed on the committee’s website.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who chairs the committee, opened the meeting by joking that it “feels a little bit like Groundhog Day.”

Isaacman was first grilled by U.S. Senators in April. He was days away from final confirmation for the top NASA job when U.S. President Donald Trump, amid a falling out with Musk in the spring, abruptly rescinded Isaacman’s nomination.

Trump then selected Isaacman as his NASA pick again in November.

As Wednesday’s hearing kicked off, Cruz and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s ranking member, both indicated they would vote for Isaacman’s long-awaited confirmation.

“I supported your nomination the first time you came before the committee, and I hope to do so again,” Cantwell said.

NASA’s lunar ambitions

Isaacman had not faced Senate questioning since Trump released a controversial budget proposal in May, which suggested slashing the space agency’s science budget by nearly 50 per cent.

Lawmakers have largely rejected those proposed budget cuts. And U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, sought confirmation from Isaacman that he would use the funds appropriated by Congress and would not seek to move forward with draconian spending and job cuts that were implied in Trump’s plan.

“We will absolutely maximize every dollar Congress affords to the agency,” Isaacman responded.

NASA’s temporary leader, acting administrator Sean Duffy, who also serves as Transportation Secretary, recently announced that the space agency would re-compete a crucial U.S. $2.9 billion lunar lander contract NASA holds with SpaceX.

That contract is for a lander slated to be part of the Artemis III mission — a critical milestone set to return NASA astronauts to the moon’s surface for the first time in five decades. Artemis III is currently slated for mid-2027 but is widely expected to be delayed in part because of development setbacks with SpaceX’s lander.

When asked about Duffy’s announcement, Isaacman did not detail whether or how he might carry out a reconsideration of SpaceX’s contract. But Isaacman said he believed that SpaceX and Blue Origin — which holds a separate lunar lander contract for missions later in the Artemis moon program — understand they are competing to be first.

Project Athena leak

Isaacman also faced questions about the Project Athena document — a 62-page outline of his plans for the space agency that was recently leaked.

When asked about the document Wednesday, Isaacman said he “had called it a draft document that I continued to update based on my interactions” with NASA leadership and lawmakers.

“I do stand behind everything in the document, even though it was written seven months ago. I think it was all directionally correct,” Isaacman said.

The goals outlined in “Project Athena,” a copy of which was obtained by CNN, include revamping some NASA centers to focus on nuclear electric propulsion, establishing a Mars exploration program, and embracing an “accelerate/fix/delete” philosophy to reshape the agency.

A proposed focus on Mars has alarmed hawkish Senators who have long emphasized that they believe NASA must beat China to the moon amid a new space race. NASA is currently working on plans to achieve that goal with its moon exploration program, called Artemis, which has received bipartisan backing and was given a multibillion funding influx in the “Big Beautiful Bill” this summer.

NASA is slated to launch the Artemis Program’s first crewed mission, called Artemis II, as soon as February. It will send a group of astronauts to fly around the moon without landing on it.

Isaacman made clear on Wednesday that he now considers the moon — not Mars — to be NASA’s clear and urgent priority.

But Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, pressed Isaacman on the issue — questioning whether Isaacman is committed to ensuring NASA remains focused on establishing a permanent lunar base, a project that would likely take decades to fully realize.

Kim also said the “Project Athena” document “was determinative” in suggesting NASA should cut “thousands of civil servant positions.” He also said he remains unsure of Isaacman’s positions, noting that he expected Isaacman to further distance himself from some of the documents’ proposals during Wednesday’s hearing — particularly portions that suggest cutting thousands of NASA civil servant jobs, Kim said.

Kim said he required “further follow up here to understand what your positions are.”

Some suggested changes to NASA science that are mapped out in Isaacman’s “Project Athena” document are controversial. The plan, for example, includes proposals to outsource some of the agency’s role in scientific research.

Isaacman has sought to quash rumors that he seeks to gut the space agency’s scientific pursuits, noting in one social media post that he was willing to personally foot the bill to launch an upcoming space telescope. In another post, he asserted that “anything suggesting that I am anti-science or want to outsource that responsibility is simply untrue.”

Still, some lawmakers have openly expressed trepidation about Isaacman.

“To protect our nation’s innovation leadership, he must be more than a rubber stamp for the Administration’s chainsaw approach to our space science initiatives,” U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, home of Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a November statement.

Van Hollen is not a member of the Senate Commerce committee and he did not join the committee for questioning, as U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama did.

Isaacman’s politics and Musk ties

During Wednesday’s hearing, Isaacman also faced questions about how he regained favor with Trump after having been on the outs for months. Sen. Gary Peters noted that Isaacman had recently donated roughly US$2 million to U.S. President Trump’s Super PAC.

Notably, when Trump first rescinded Isaacman’s first nomination in May, he appeared to indicate he took issue with Isaacman’s history of donating to Democrats as well as Republicans. However, CNN reporting suggested a close Trump ally moved to oust Isaacman when Musk left his informal post in Washington this spring.

“I wouldn’t even begin to want to speculate why the President nominated me,” Isaacman said Wednesday.

Regarding his Trump Super PAC donations, Isaacman said that after his NASA nomination was rescinded — he considered a political career. “It shouldn’t be surprising that I supported the Republican Party,” he said.

Isaacman also faced questioning about his ties to Musk and SpaceX. Isaacman has twice paid the company to fly aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules on brief trips to orbit.

Recent financial disclosures also say that Isaacman’s ongoing deal with SpaceX for a program called Polaris is worth more than US$50 million. He also reported more than US$5 million in capital gains from an investment in SpaceX.

During the Wednesday hearing, Isaacman sought to downplay his associations with Musk.

“I led two missions to space at SpaceX because it’s the only organization that can send astronauts to and from space since the Shuttle was retired,” Isaacman said. “And in that respect, my relationship is no different than that of NASA.”

Broadly speaking, Isaacman has gained broad support for the NASA position among the commercial space industry.

Duffy also issued a letter of support to the Senate committee, and Isaacman’s nomination this time around was backed by 36 NASA astronauts.

During opening remarks, Sen. Cruz suggested Isaacman could be confirmed before NASA attempts to launch four astronauts on Artemis II.

“We need to confirm your nomination as expeditiously as possible,” Cruz said. “My hope is that you will be confirmed and in this role before the end of this year.”