Donald Trump’s administration has withdrawn billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman’s nomination to lead NASA despite Senate confirmation, citing political disloyalty and potentially worsening a crisis over NASA’s 2026 budget cuts.
Image source: Inspiration4
The decision to withdraw Isaacman’s nomination was first reported by Semafor. A private astronaut and entrepreneur, he was nominated by the Trump administration to lead NASA and confirmed by a 19-9 vote by the Senate Commerce Committee. All Republican senators supported his nomination. After the vote in April, it went to the full Senate for consideration. Confirmation was expected shortly after the Memorial Day holiday, but by Friday, May 30, the situation had changed.
On Saturday, far-right political activist Laura Loomer claimed on the social media site X: “Deep state operatives are attempting to derail the confirmation of President Trump’s nominee to lead NASA, Jared Isaacman, before the Senate vote this week.” It was the first public indication that his confirmation was in jeopardy. According to sources close to the White House, the decision to withdraw was due to Isaacman not demonstrating sufficient political loyalty to the current administration’s agenda, particularly the slogan “Make America Great Again.”
Ars Technica sources attribute the decline in support for Isaacman’s candidacy to Elon Musk’s shift in policy. Musk played a key role in Isaacman’s nomination to head NASA. His support allowed Isaacman to avoid some of the internal party scrutiny that other Trump administration nominees faced. In an interview published on May 27, Musk said he had “significantly scaled back” his involvement in politics. His opponents in the administration have since used Musk’s departure from the political agenda as an excuse to attack Isaacman, according to sources.
On Friday, the Trump administration released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. It proposes spending $18.8 billion on NASA, a 24 percent reduction from the $24.8 billion budgeted for 2025. One current NASA official told Ars Technica, “NASA is f***ed.” According to a former senior NASA official, “NASA’s budget request is just shutdown mode unless there’s Jared to innovate.”
Isaacman is a prominent figure in the private space industry. He is the founder of Shift4 and a participant in the privately funded Inspiration4 crewed mission. Industry representatives and agency officials have pinned his appointment on his hopes of protecting NASA’s science budget and driving innovation. Isaacman is known for his proactive role in advancing space exploration and for seeing private sector participation as an integral part of U.S. space policy.